Japan's Nissan Motor is offering buyouts to workers and cutting back shifts at three U.S. factories, a company spokesperson said on Thursday, as the automaker pushes to slash $2.6 in costs globally.

Nissan Motor is slashing production at its U.S. plants and offering buyouts to factory workers there as part of the Japanese automaker’s urgent efforts to return to profitability.

SMYRNA, Tenn. (WZTV) — Nissan has confirmed that its plants in Smyrna, Canton, and Decherd will experience job cuts. The company stated it would initially seek volunteers for the layoffs, offering severance packages to those who opt-in.

Nissan Motor Co. is eliminating a work shift at two US vehicle assembly plants and trimming its hourly staff via buyouts, a downsizing to align its output with lower sales volumes as it mulls a possible sale to Honda Motor Co.

The industry that helped turn Japan into an economic juggernaut is undergoing its biggest change in years, with two of the country’s best-known carmakers looking to join forces.

SMYRNA, Tenn. (WSMV) - After announcing a merger last month with rival automaker, Honda, Nissan is now saying it will reduce production and cut thousands of jobs to its plants across the globe. This includes both production sites in Tennessee.

Nissan failed to mention exactly when the plants will return to two shifts. However, the Smyrna site will start to build a plug-in hybrid Rogue in 2027, and this will require a second shift. The Canton site will also go back to a two-shift schedule and handle the production of an EV, likely arriving in 2028.

Nissan will operate a single shift on one production line at each of its two U.S. facilities, located in Smyrna and Canton, Mississippi, according to Bloomberg. It expects to go back to a two-shift schedule when it introduces new vehicle models in 2027 and 2028. The production cuts impact the Rogue in Smyrna and the Altima in Canton.

Nissan plans to repair its flailing business without closing factories, according to people familiar with the matter, as it looks to streamline its finances before a capital tie-up with Honda.

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When it announced its recovery plan in November, Nissan didn’t give details on where the job cuts might come. The workforce reduction of 9,000 people amounts to about 6% of its more than 133,000 global employees. The company also plans to slash its global production capacity by 20%.