Mazda Workers Choose Buyout

Mazda Motor Corp. says more than 100 U.S. employees have agreed to take buyouts and leave the company on July 2, Automotive News reports.

The newspaper, which cites a company regulatory filing in California, notes that the departures amount to 15% of the staff at Mazda's American headquarters in Irvine, Calif.,

In mid-March, the company said it was offering a package that includes severance pay and a lump-sum payment based on years of service to 700 U.S. employees. Mazda said at the time that it might need to dismiss some workers if voluntary buyouts didn't meet unspecified goals. The company tells AN it doesn't know yet if such measures will be necessary.

Mazda is cutting costs in North America, where its operating loss grew 27% to 40.3 billion yen ($502 million) in the fiscal year ended March 31. The news isn't all bad: The company's U.S. sales jumped 22% year over year to 103,500 vehicles in the January-April period.