Nissan, reeling from a scandal over its former superstar executive Carlos Ghosn, sank into red ink in the latest quarter as its vehicle sales fell around the world, and the Japanese automaker slashed its profit forecast for the year.

Automakers are considering whether to reopen factory lines in China and counting the costs from the virus outbreak in China, while Japanese fashion brand Uniqlo reports half its shops in China are closed.

Slumping Nissan Motor Co. is offering voluntary separation packages to many of its U.S. workers as it tries to resize itself to match lower sales.

A lawyer for Carlos Ghosn, Nissan's former chairman who skipped bail in Japan and fled to Lebanon, on Friday slammed a gaffe by the Japanese justice minister who said that Ghosn should "prove" his innocence.

Nissan says its former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, is still behind what it sees as "serious misconduct" found in an investigation at the Japanese automaker.