Japan's Nissan Motor is offering buyouts to workers and cutting back shifts at three U.S. factories, a company spokesperson said on Thursday, as the automaker pushes to slash $2.6 billion in costs globally.

Nissan is slashing production at its U.S. plants and offering buyouts to factory workers there as part of the Japanese automaker’s urgent efforts to return to profitability. The move is part of Nissan Motor Corp.

Nissan Motor Co. is eliminating a work shift at two US vehicle assembly plants and trimming its hourly staff via buyouts, a downsizing to align its output with lower sales volumes as it mulls a possible sale to Honda Motor Co.