Nissan has announced it will be cutting 9,000 jobs globally and reducing production by 20% in an effort to save $2.6bn (£2bn).

The Japanese car maker cut its operating profit forecast in an announcement this morning by a dramatic 70% to 150bn yen (£754m).

It’s unknown what this will mean for thousands of British employees of the brand based in Sunderland, where the Qashqai and Juke are currently built.

The reduction is nearly 7% of the companies global employees, which currently totals more than 133,000 people.

The company has also decided to sell up to 10% of Mitsubishi Motors in a bid to raise more funds.

In the first half of the year, global sales fell 3.8% and operating profit in Q2 was down 85%.

Reuters reports that Nissan does not have the hybrid line-up it needs for the US market.

CEO Makoto Uchida said: ‘We didn’t foresee HEVs ramping up this rapidly (in the U.S.).

‘We did start to understand this trend towards the end of last fiscal year, but the model year switching for our core models didn’t go as smoothly.’

It has also struggled in China, where it faces new local brands particularly in the EV market.

In response it will reduce its development time on new models to 30 months, and collaborate more with its partners Renault and Mitsubishi.

Reuters reports, chief monozukuri officer Hideyuki Sakamoto said: ‘Globally, we currently have 25 vehicle production lines. Our current plan is to reduce the operational maximum capacity of these 25 lines by 20%.

‘One specific method for this is to change the line speed and shift patterns, thereby increasing the efficiency of operational personnel.’

Car Dealer has approached Nissan GB for comment.