"Job destruction will be massive in those countries that do not rapidly help the auto sector to finance itself," said Ghosn, who turned Nissan around a decade ago.

"It will not be seen immediately, but in a few years," he told a symposium in Japan.

The global slowdown has badly shaken Japan's automakers, which in recent years have cashed in on worldwide demand for their cars.

Fears are also mounting of a collapse of the Big Three US automakers, which are pleading for urgent government aid.