Nissan, still staggered by the controversy over its former top honcho Carlos Ghosn, plunged into the red zone in the latest quarter as the company's vehicle sales took a heavy blow globally, the Japanese carmaker announced.

Nissan Motor on Thursday disclosed a drop of 26 billion yen ($237 million) for the October to December period, a U-turn from its 70 billion-yen earnings a year earlier.

The company's quarterly profits fell almost 19 percent to 2.5 trillion yen ($23 billion), as auto sales plummeted in the US, China and Europe.

Nissan posted a significant drop in its net income in the last nine months, with a double-digit decline in revenues of 87.5 percent to 39.3 billion yen from 316.7 billion yen in 2019. Operating sales were down 82.8 percent to 54.4 billion yen.

For the nine-month period, the auto giant's global division profits dipped 8.5 percent to 3.75 million units during the period.

Nissan's steeply decreasing earnings power has prompted the company to consider cutting the number of its workforce, shut down the assembly plants, and scrap product promotions, sources disclosed, as the company backpedals from an aggressive campaign of market dominance pushed by Ghosn.

The dreary forecast comes after Japan's second biggest carmaker reported its first quarterly net decline in almost 10 years, and contrasts with a strong outlook from competitors Honda and Toyota.

Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida said in a media briefing at the company's Yokohama headquarters that a restructuring plan is being considered, with details to be made public in May.

According to Uchida, the situation "has worsened," and that there's no "moment to waste" as the company must continue to invest in future products.

In China, Nissan's facilities have stopped though measures are underway to reopen production before February ends. But whether such resumptions can take place remains unknown, not only for Nissan but also for other carmakers in the mainland.

In Japan, some production was being reduced although that was to be offset when the supply chain normalizes, possibly in March, Nissan said.

Looking ahead to its full fiscal year, Nissan now estimates an attributable net income of 65 billion yen, operating sales of 85 billion yen, and revenues of 10.3 trillion yen.

The company is actually "making progress," despite its recent declines, but sales volumes have been very sluggish so it needs more restructuring than initially thought, Uchida explained.

Ghosn was accused of understating his salary and using corporate funds for personal purposes. He has denied charges against him and staged a dramatic escape to Lebanon in December last year while awaiting court trial.