NASHVILLE -- Nissan North America Inc. will offer voluntary buyouts to workers at its two Tennessee factories to counter slow sales of full-sized pickups and SUVs.

Technicians and salaried employees at the Smyrna assembly and Decherd powertrain plants will be eligible for lump-sum payments of between $100,000 and $125,000, depending on tenure, plus medical and car purchase benefits, Nissan said in a statement today.

Nissan said the buyouts were necessary to adjust to a "dramatic slowdown" in truck and SUV sales as a result of rising fuel prices and the downturn in the U.S. economy. About 5,500 hourly and salaried employees work at the Smyrna plant. Another 1,100 work at the Decherd factory.

"It's the realities of the market. Looking at it, we decided we had about 1,200 employees in excess," Nissan spokesman Fred Standish told Automotive News here.

The Smyrna plant will eliminate its night-shift truck production effective Aug. 11. That plant produces the Frontier pickup, Altima sedan and coupe, Xterra SUV, Maxima sedan and Pathfinder SUV.

"The marketplace is changing, and Nissan's North American manufacturing operations must change with it to remain competitive," said Bill Krueger, Nissan senior vice president of manufacturing, purchasing and supply chain management for the Americas.

The buyouts will span three years, and employees can choose to participate in the fiscal year that begins April 1 of 2008, 2009 or 2010. The election period for 2008 ends Sept. 12. Employees can sign up again in 2009 or 2010, but their benefits will be reduced.

The buyouts will not affect employees at Nissan's assembly plant in Canton, Miss.

Nissan earlier announced that it would eliminate one shift of Titan pickup and Armada SUV production in Canton and add a third shift of Altima production at Canton.