Nissan Motor Co. plans to cut its global production capacity by 20 percent from the current level by fiscal 2022, as the spread of the new coronavirus has led to slumping sales in many parts of the world, sources close to the matter said Thursday.

The automaker is now capable of producing about 7 million vehicles worldwide annually, but Nissan has lagged behind in introducing new models and its fiscal 2019 global sales dropped 13.2 percent from a year earlier to 4.79 million vehicles.

"We plan to cut output levels to match the current sales level," a Nissan executive said.