Isuzu May Reduce Salaries for Executives as Sales Slump

Isuzu Motors Ltd., Japan's largest truckmaker, may cut salaries for executives after demand for commercial vehicles plummeted amid the global recession.

Details including timing and the size of salary cuts haven't been decided, spokesman Koitsu Mabuchi said today by phone. The company also said "there is no fact" to a Nikkei report that it will temporarily cut salaries for about 8,000 domestic workers.

Economic recessions in the U.S., Japan, and Europe are sapping demand for vehicles worldwide, prompting Toyota Motor Corp. and other domestic automakers to scale back expansion and cut spending. Toyota, Japan's biggest automaker, plans to skip bonuses for board members, it said on Dec. 22.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp., maker of Lancer sedans, also denied a report that it will cut salaries for section managers or those above them. "The report is speculation," Kai Inada, a company spokesman, said by phone.

Isuzu shares fell 2.8 percent to 106 yen as of 10:44 a.m. in Tokyo Stock Exchange trading. They have fallen 79 percent this year.