India’s systems are strong; to increase population despite global turmoil: Nissan
Japanese car company Nissan’s plans to transform its operations in India have not changed, and it is looking to increase its population in the country despite the turmoil it is facing globally, according to the company’s chief executive.
The company, which has increased its headcount at its Chennai plant by 600 to add a third shift, does not foresee the move to cut 9,000 jobs and 20 percent of global production impacting India as long as it remains competitive in the market, Nissan India. Operations President Frank Torres told PTI.
“Nissan is betting big on India…And the plans (for India) are still in place despite this turmoil in the world,” he said. Torres was responding to a question on whether the announcement of global job and production cuts would affect Nissan’s operations in India.
“Contrary to perception, in India, we are strengthening our membership, increasing our productivity, and we have recently added nearly 600 new jobs at our manufacturing facility in Chennai,” Torres said.
“This move is to facilitate production shifts. We are expanding production soon with two new models…This is despite the global action, which involves restructuring. We do not predict the impact will be in India because our plans are still untouched.
Yes, the main point for us is to keep competing. Because in the end this is what is considered the most important thing at Nissan.” Earlier in July this year, Nissan India announced that it is looking to launch five models in the next 30 months as it looks to transform its operations quickly. -the growing Indian car market.
The company has set a target of tripling its domestic and export volume to one lakh per annum by the end of FY26. In November this year, Nissan announced that worldwide, it will cut 9,000 jobs and production by 20 percent as part of a turnaround plan and cut costs by 400 billion yen ($2.6 billion).
“There is no risk, or there is no impact in India in terms of India’s plans, they will remain the same. We will continue to compete, appropriately in terms of product, in terms of costs, with everything. , including our partners, suppliers and vendors,” commented Torres.
The third change at the Chennai plant started a few weeks ago, as the company aims to make full use of the manufacturing facility.
“It means that we have grown a new new shift. Then we move forward towards 2026, when we will need to put our production facility fully equipped with two lines with three shifts. From today, we are preparing one of them to work. new models,” added Torres.
If the company achieves its capacity forecast with the new models by the end of 2026, he said, “This will put the utilization of the plant at more than 80 percent, which will require more manpower than today”.
“Increasing population is part of our commitment. We have committed to the Tamil Nadu government to increase our number next year based on new investments, and we have a lot of support from the Tamil Nadu government.”
In addition, he said, the Reault-Nissan alliance is committed to creating more than 2,000 jobs not only in manufacturing, but also in other areas such as R&D as part of their $600 million investment plan announced by 2023.
Torres also said that the company is now preparing one line to adapt to new technologies, such as EVs, ahead of the planned launch of the electric SUV.
“We plan to increase our volume in the domestic and export markets. Our goal is to triple our domestic and export capacity in FY26 compared to FY23…Our plans are still in place, and our plans for new models remain intact. ,” asserted Torres.
When asked about sales growth, Torres said that in the ongoing fiscal 2024-25, Nissan India is looking at a sales growth of over 45 percent to over 1.05 lakh units as against 72,666 units sold in the previous fiscal on the back of its upgraded SUV Magnite. .
The company has expanded its export market to more than 65 countries from 14 countries by 2023, by introducing a left-handed version of the Magnet, he added.
The company aims to export over 74,200 units in 2024-25 as against 42,597 in the previous fiscal.
In the domestic market, Nissan India expects sales to grow 4 percent to 31,155 units in 2024-25 compared to 30,065 in the previous fiscal.
