Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s annual vehicle production may fall below 10 million vehicles for the first time in eight years as Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and other automakers widen output cuts amid a global recession.

“It will be difficult to maintain the level this year,” Nissan Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga told reporters in Tokyo today. Building at least 10 million units a year in Japan is necessary to ensure jobs at home, Japanese automakers have said. The last time production fell below the level was in 2001.

Toyota and other automakers plan to shed more than 14,000 temporary jobs, halt production or scrap shifts in Japan by March to respond to plunging demand in the U.S., Japan and Europe. Exports accounts for more than half of domestic production for Japan’s 12 car and truckmakers.

Industrywide domestic output rose for six straight years to all-time high of 11.6 million vehicles in 2007, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association. The tally increased 2 percent to 10.8 million units in the first 11 months of last year, while exports gained 6.6 percent to 6.3 million, the auto group said.

Toyota, Japan’s largest automaker, today said it will suspend production at 12 domestic factories for 11 days in February and March. The move may reduce production by about 200,000 units, according to Credit Suisse Securities (Japan) Ltd. Nissan, the country’s third-biggest automaker, last month said it will reduce domestic production by 78,000 vehicles, starting in January.

Toyota rose 1.3 percent to 3,050 yen at the 3 p.m. close on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Nissan added 2.4 percent to 341 yen.

To contact the reporter on this story: Naoko Fujimura in Tokyo at nfujimura@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 6, 2009 03:49 EST