Nissan is to axe 20,000 jobs, raising fears of more losses at its giant Sunderland plant.

The Japanese carmaker did not say where the cuts will be made. But 1200 dismissals at Sunderland were announced last month, and there are worries this figure may now increase.

Nissan is heading for full-year losses of almost £2 billion.

Chief executive Carlos Ghosn said: "In every planning scenario we built, our worst assumptions on the state of the global economy have been met or exceeded, with the continuing grip on credit and declining consumer confidence being the most damaging factors.

"Our priority remains protecting our free cash flow and taking swift, adequate and impactful actions to improve our business performance."

The cuts, similar in scale to those at cash-strapped General Motors, represent 8.5% of Nissan's global workforce.

The company reported a net loss of 83.2 billion yen (£619 million) in the third quarter to December.

It is cutting Japanese production by an additional 64,000 vehicles in February and March, and has already put its US assembly plants on an indefinite four-day week.

Ghosn has called for government aid for carmakers, and may apply to Japan's government for low-interest loans as sales in its home market collapse.

Toyota, which employs more than 5000 people in Britain, is lining up 1000 full-time job losses in the UK and the US, although the axe is likely to fall more heavily in America.

Honda has laid off its British workers for four months. More than 1000 of its 4800 workers in Swindon have taken redundancy, while 800 temporary workers were let go last month.

Jaguar Land Rover reduced staff by 450, and Ford will cut as many as 850 jobs in the UK and delay the introduction of a new version of its Transit van.

General Motors' Vauxhall business in the UK says the company could be forced to consider "drastic options".

GM has indicated it is looking for another 5000 job cuts globally, saying it wants to reduce numbers to between 65,000 and 75,000, from 96,537 last year.

More than 200,000 UK workers are employed in making cars or components, with a further 600,000 linked to sales and servicing.