TOKYO (Reuters) -- Hit hard in the fourth quarter, Japan's Nissan Motor Co. posted a net loss of $1.4 billion in 2008 and forecast more losses for the current year as it puts product launches and growth plans on hold to conserve cash.

Nissan urgently needs to offer cars that better compete with rivals Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., but the sales slide and losses have forced it to delay manufacturing projects and new models.

Carlos Ghosn, CEO of both Nissan and France's Renault SA, said there were signs of improved access to credit and a gradual return in consumer confidence, but this year would be another challenging one.

"Our priorities will be preserving cash, improving our profitability and pursuing deeper synergies with the Renault-Nissan alliance," he said in a statement.

Ghosn, reporting his first full-year loss since taking over as Nissan CEO almost eight years ago, had said previously the aim this year was to generate cash and break down barriers to fuller cooperation between the Japanese and French auto partners.

For January-March, Nissan posted an operating loss of 230.4 billion yen ($2.4 billion), down from a year-ago profit of 212 billion yen. The results were better than the 270 billion yen loss analysts had predicted.

The net loss in the fourth quarter was 276.9 billion yen, compared with a year-earlier profit of 138 billion yen.

In its fiscal year that ended March 31, the company had an operating loss of 137.9 billion yen, compared with a 790.8 billion profit in 2007. Nissan had a net loss of 233.7 billion yen, down from a net profit of 482.3 billion the year before.

For the year to next March, Nissan forecast an operating loss of 100 billion yen, less than a consensus forecast for a 239 billion yen loss. It expects a full-year net loss of 170 billion yen.

Lagging lineup

Nissan suffers in the United States from not having any brand big-hitters to match Toyota's Camry or Honda's Accord. Its Qashqai crossover has been a rare hit in Europe, but the GT-R sports car has done little to attract buyers to its mass-volume products.

Lagging its bigger domestic rivals in hybrid technology, Nissan aims to strengthen its light commercial vehicle (LCV) business, where it will soon launch the NV200 van. The company also is counting on premium brand Infiniti to help.

Further out, it hopes to overtake competitors by leading the still-unproven electric car segment with a mass rollout in 2012. It said it hopes to unveil its new electric car for the first time in early August.

Toyota, the world's leading carmaker, on Friday forecast a bigger-than-expected $8.6 billion annual loss and said it would sell about 1 million fewer vehicles this year, leaving it, too, desperately trying to cut costs.

Takahiko Murai, general manager of equities at Nozomi Securities, said Nissan appeared more bullish on its outlook than its bigger rival.

"My first impression is that Nissan's outlook seemed rather (more) optimistic than that of Toyota, which provided a very conservative outlook. It seems like Nissan's forecasts are based on an assumption of global economic recovery this year ... but I doubt that."

Nissan's sales in the United States are down 35 percent so far this year, mirroring a drop in the overall market, while it is among the worst performers in Japan without the 660cc minivehicles it buys from Suzuki Motor Corp. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp.

Suzuki on Monday reported a small fourth-quarter profit, helped by growth in India, but forecast an 87 percent drop in profit for the current year.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mazda Motor Corp forecast its full-year operating loss would nearly double to 50 billion yen this year, in line with analysts' forecasts.

Nissan shares, which fell steeply throughout last year, have risen 61 percent so far this year against a 40 percent gain on Tokyo's transport sub-index. Ahead of the results on Tuesday, the stock ended down 1 percent.