Nissan has confirmed that it is currently producing 1.35 million cars, which is 10 per cent less than last year. This amounts to the company’s seventh recorded loss in the past eight years. C.O.E. Carlos Ghosn, who engineered the turnaround for Michelin in North America, is currently preparing a restructuring plan which will entail the loss of 21,000 jobs, or 14% of its worldwide workforce, by the year 2003. In the US, 1,000 jobs (10%) will go by March 2001, while in Japan, there are plans to close four factories.