TOKYO: Nissan Motor Co will slash production at several factories in Japan next month due to a critical shortage of semiconductors, three sources with direct knowledge of the plan told Reuters on Thursday.

Japan's third-largest automaker will idle its factory in Kyushu, southern Japan, for eight days between May 10 and 19, the sources said, declining to be identified because the plan is not public.

The plant, which assembles the Serena minivan, X-Trail SUV and other models, will aim to make up for lost production once the supply of chips returns, the people said.

Two other domestic assembly plants, the Oppama plant and a Nissan Shatai factory in Kyushu, will cancel the night shift over 15 days between May 10-28, and a fourth factory in Tochigi, eastern Japan, will idle for 10 previously unplanned days next month, the sources said.