Mitsubishi Motors to cut U.S. output, staff-Nikkei

TOKYO, June 27 (Reuters) - Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp (7211.T) will reduce output in the United States by about 10 percent and cut 5 percent of jobs to cope with weakening demand, the Nikkei business daily reported on Friday.

Automakers have been trimming U.S. output as high gas prices and a sluggish economy hit demand.

Mitsubishi Motors will cut annual output at a factory in Illinois to about 69,000 vehicles this business year to March 2009 from 75,500 in the prior year, the Nikkei said.

Models manufactured at the plant include the Galant sedan and the Endeavor sports utility vehicle and has a capacity of 110,000 vehicles a year, the newspaper said.

Mitsubishi Motors plans to have 105 employees at the factory, or about 5 percent of the workforce, sign up for early retirement, the newspaper said.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)