UK: Nissan Slash Sunderland Jobs

Japanese car maker Nissan became the latest high profile name to slash jobs in the UK, announcing it was cutting it's workforce at the company's Sunderland plant by 1,200 today.

The plant, which opened in 1986, employs about 4,900 workers.

The move is in response to what the company describes as a dramatic decline in customer demand. Nissan's new car sales for December 2008 fell 26.68% compared with the same month in 2007.