NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Nissan Motor Corp. plans to stop production at its Smyrna assembly plant for two days this month to balance inventory levels, company officials said.
Workers will be able to take vacation or personal days on March 28 and 31 if they have them. Otherwise, their paychecks will reflect two lost days of pay.
Nashville-based Nissan North America Inc. builds the Altima coupe and sedan, Frontier pickup, Xterra sport utility vehicle, Pathfinder SUV, and Maxima sedan at the Smyrna plant.
Nissan spokeswoman Julie Lawless said Nissan's engine plant in Decherd and the company's other U.S. vehicle-assembly plant, in Canton, Miss., would not be affected by the shutdown.
Nissan's overall U.S. sales were off 2.9 percent in February compared with the same month last year, with trucks down 3.7 percent and cars 2.2 percent.
The two-day production stop at Smyrna is the first the company has ordered this year.
General Motors Corp., which operates an assembly plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., has said it would cut production in the second quarter, but a strike under way since Feb. 26 at GM supplier American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc., has forced shutdowns of all or part of 29 of GM's North American truck and sport utility vehicle plants. Those plants build vehicles that use axles supplied by American Axle.
GM's Spring Hill plant hasn't been affected by American Axle's problems.
GM's lost production of pickups and SUVs has totaled over 41,000 units since the American Axle strike began, according to industry weekly Automotive News.
The company has declined to discuss production details or say how much it would be curtailed.
''We intend to keep running. We're not laying off any people,'' spokesman Michael Goss said. ''Our intention is to keep everyone employed, but we'll assign some people to special-improvement teams and do some extra training, things like that.''
U.S. sales of full-size pickups were off nearly 10 percent this year through February, compared with the same period last year, the industry reported.
