Click to play videoBarcelona: Nissan workers in Barcelona were left worrying about their fate on Tuesday (October 14) after Nissan Europe SAS said on Monday (October 13) it would cut 1,680 jobs at its subsidiary in the Spanish city, due to falling demand.
Nissan's Barcelona plant specialises in 4x4 models and they have seen demand affected not only by the financial crisis, but also because of demanding rules on CO2 emissions, according to a Nissan news release.
In September car sales in Spain fell 32 percent year-on-year.
Workers outside the Japanese owned plant expressed their frustration and fear at the news.
"We are going to be laid off for no reason in the first instance and a lot of people will go hungry," said one worker.
Another employee was worried about his possible employment prospects.
"It is a very complicated situation because I am 47, which means I'm too old to get a new job."
Workers representative Jordi Carmona denounced the move, saying: "They (Nissan management) are using the general crisis as a smoke screen to maintain the benefits they have had in the past year."
But at a news conference Fumiako Matsumoto, Nissan's Vice President in Spain underlined that the cuts were a result of falling demand.
"The re-adjustment of the markets consequently produces a re-adjustment in production," said Matsumoto.
Nissan currently employs around 6,300 workers in Spain, with around 4,300 of those based in the affected Barcelona plant.
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