Tokyo - Nissan Motor Co 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, Japanese media reports said Thursday.

Nissan would log the first operating loss since Carlos Ghosn became the company's chief operating officer in 1999, when the company formed a business partnership with France's Renault SA.

The Japanese automaker lowered its projection for the year's operating profit from 550 billion yen (6.16 billion dollars) to 270 billion yen in October.

It would be revised downward again this month to an operating loss of several billions of yen, the Japanese daily The Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

Japan's car industry is hit hard by the yen strengthening against the dollar and declining exports amid the global economic slowdown.

Toyota Motor Corp recently reported that it expected to incur the first operating loss in company history. (dpa)