Nissan's UK plant furloughs 800 workers amid chip shortage

Leaves for 10% of employees to continue until supplies recover to normal levels

Nissan has furloughed around 800 people, or 10% of its workforce, at its plant in the U.K. due to a shortage of semiconductors that has affected carmakers worldwide. © Reuters

Nikkei staff writers

April 16, 2021 21:00 JST

TOKYO -- Nissan Motor has furloughed about 800 workers, or 10% of the employees at its U.K. assembly plant, as a semiconductor shortage squeezes production.

The layoffs will continue until supplies of components return to normal levels. U.S. carmaker General Motors has also laid off workers, but Nissan is the first Japanese automaker to make such a move in response to the global semiconductor crunch.