Nissan Motor Co., the top seller of vehicles in China, cut its full-year net income forecast by 20 percent after a consumer backlash stemming from a territorial dispute sent sales in its largest market plummeting.

Net income may total ¥320 billion for the year ending March 31, compared with its earlier estimate of ¥400 billion, the company said Tuesday. The carmaker cut its operating income forecast to ¥575 billion from ¥700 billion.

The cutbacks at Nissan, which follows Honda Motor Co. in lowering its profit forecast, illustrates how leadership in the world's biggest auto market has become a handicap amid the row over the Senkaku Islands.