Tokyo - Nissan Motor Co plans to shift production of its March subcompact car to Thailand as a way to reduce cost amid the business slowdown, a Japanese business daily said Friday.

Nissan would be the first Japanese automaker to transfer production of a top-selling car to overseas operations.

The Japanese automaker was expected to incur an operating loss for the 2008-09 fiscal year that ends March 31 due to the slowdown of global car sales and a stronger yen.

The production shift emerged as Thailand offers tax breaks for the production of small, fuel-efficient small cars.

Siam Nissan Automobile plans to increase annual production from 140,000 units to 200,000 units in 2010 and to manufacture 100,000 units of the newly designed March, the Nikkei newspaper said.

Currently, Nissan produces the subcompact March in Japan's central Kanagawa province for domestic consumers and sells about 47,000 units a year.

But the new restructuring plan would shift total production to Thailand and then import all units for the domestic market in time for a full remodelling of the March planned for 2010.

Nissan also plans to shift production of the Micra car from Britain to India in 2010. (dpa)