TOKYO, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Nissan Motor ( NSANF ) plans to

procure batteries for electric vehicles sold in the U.S. from

South Korea's SK On from around 2028 onwards, the Nikkei

newspaper said on Thursday, as the troubled Japanese automaker

looks to ramp up its EV business as part of a planned

turnaround.

Separately, a Nissan ( NSANF ) executive said the automaker was

considering plans to produce compact EVs at its plant on Japan's

southern island Kyushu, confirming a 2024 Reuters report.

Nissan ( NSANF ), which is in talks to merge with Honda Motor ( HMC )

, has been seeking to slash 9,000 jobs and 20% of its

global manufacturing capacity in a turnaround plan laid out last

year. Success in that plan would impact how its talks with Honda ( HMC )

play out.

The automaker and SK On agreed on the supply of 20

Gigawatt-Hour (GWh) worth of ternary lithium batteries,

equivalent to roughly 300,000 standard EVs, the Nikkei said.

A Nissan ( NSANF ) spokesperson did not immediately respond to a

request for comment on the matter.

On Wednesday, Nissan ( NSANF ) executive vice president Hideyuki

Sakamoto said the company was considering plans to produce

compact EVs at its plant on Kyushu island. He also said it is

not planning to cut its production capacity in Kyushu as part of

the cost-cutting.

"The Kyushu region is also a highly competitive base

geopolitically, so we would like to utilise it," Sakamoto, who

is in charge of manufacturing and supply chain management, said.

Sources had told Reuters in last March that Nissan ( NSANF ) may bring

the production of its ultra-compact EVs in-house by making them

at its Kyushu factory from the business year starting April

2028, a move that would allow it to boost profit margins.

Nissan ( NSANF ) and Honda ( HMC ) are in talks to merge by 2026, a historic

pivot for Japan's auto industry that underlines the threat

Chinese EV makers now pose to the world's long-dominant legacy

car makers.