What some auto manufacturers and industry experts were passing off as a slight hiccup for the auto industry is rapidly turning into a full-scale recession if not all out depression, one complete with a litany of layoffs in the global auto industry as sales in major countries like the United States and China have been steadily deteriorating for the last 18 months.

We've already seen massive planned layoffs from US auto makers like Ford, and now Nissan is the latest to join the mass layoffs bandwagon, with Kyodo reporting that Nissan will cut over 10,000 jobs globally, or over 7% of its entire global workforce.

In some respects, it's deja vu of The Great Recession for Nissan. In 2009, the company slashed 20,000 jobs before forecasting a $2.6 billion loss. This represented about 8% of the company's 235,000+ employee count at the time. 

Today's cuts are likely in response to the deteriorating automotive market in China: recall in early July we reported  that Nissan's sales in China from January to June totaled 718,268 units, a 0.3% y/y decline.