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Nissan eyeing cut in Yokohama Marinos stake for cost reduction(Kyodo News International (Tokyo) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dec. 31--TOKYO -- Faced with growing cost-cutting pressure in the wake of the global financial crisis, Nissan Motor Co. plans to lower its stake in J-League club Yokohama F Marinos, Nissan officials said Wednesday. The automaker, which currently holds an equity stake of around 93 percent in Yokohama Marinos Ltd., the management company of the soccer club, is considering reducing its interest by selling its shareholdings or having Yokohama Marinos allocate new shares to other companies, they said. In addition to Nissan, a number of leading companies in the city of Yokohama own Yokohama Marinos, which is struggling with a cumulative loss of 122 million yen after posting a net loss of 1 million yen in fiscal 2007. A Nissan executive said the company hopes to reduce the cost of sponsoring the club by increasing the number of sponsors. Nissan is another automaker that has been forced to review financial support for athletic activities due to falling auto sales amid the financial turmoil. Honda Motor Co. has already decided to withdraw from all Formula One motor racing activities, effective in 2009, while Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp. intends to discontinue its uniform sponsorship of another J-League club, Urawa Reds. To overcome the increasingly tough business environment, Nissan plans to reduce its global auto production by more than 350,000 units in fiscal 2008 to March 31 and terminate employment contracts with all temporary workers by the end of the current fiscal year. To see more of Kyodo News International, go to http://www.kyodonews.com Copyright (c) 2008, Kyodo News International, Tokyo Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |