Nissan plans to cut 10,000 jobs worldwide

Carmaker Nissan announced plans to cut more than 10,000 jobs globally on Wednesday, doubling the layoffs it previously announced in May.

The cuts were part of efforts to turn itself around, according to Japanese media, following the 4,800 job cuts it announced earlier in the year after a fall in profits to a near-decade low.

They were expected to primarily affect factories with low utilisation rates outside Japan, which increased worries for those working at Nissan's UK factory in Sunderland.

Reuters reported that the company could announce the job losses on Thursday in its quarterly earnings report.

“We’ve not decided yet what we’ll announce [at the Thursday earnings press conference], and we don’t comment on speculation,” Nissan spokesman Koji Okuda told Agence France-Presse.

Analysts expected the company to post one of its weakest quarterly performances since the 2008 global financial crisis when it announces its first-quarter earnings on Thursday, said Reuters.

In May, Nissan forecast a 28% fall in annual operating profit, adding to a 45% fall in the previous year, leading to its weakest earnings in 11 years.