India Plans Intact; To Add More Headcount: Nissan

New Delhi: Japanese auto major Nissan’s plans to turn around its Indian operations remain intact, and it is looking to increase headcount in the country despite the turbulence it is facing globally, according to a senior company official.

The company, which has increased headcount at its Chennai plant by 600 to add a third shift, does not foresee steps to cut 9,000 jobs and 20 per cent production globally having an impact on India as long as it remains competitive in the market, Nissan India Operations President Frank Torres told media. “Nissan is betting big on India...and the plans (for India) remain intact despite this global turbulence,” he said.

Torres was responding to a query on whether the announcement for global job and production cuts will have an impact on Nissan’s India operations. “Contrary to the perception, in India, we are strengthening our members, growing our production, and we just included almost 600 new employments in our manufacturing plant in Chennai,” Torres said.

“This move is to help the production shifts. We are expanding production very soon with two new models...this is despite the global action, which involves restructuring. We don’t forecast that the impact will be in India because our plans remain untouched.

Of course, the key point for us is to keep being competitive. Because, in the end, this is what is considered most important inside Nissan.” Earlier in July this year, Nissan India announced that it is looking to introduce five models over the next 30 months as it looks to turn around its operations in the fast-growing Indian car market.

The company has set a target of tripling its domestic and export volumes to 1 lakh each per an-num by the end of FY26. In November this year, Nissan announced that globally, it would cut 9,000 jobs and production by 20 per cent as part of a turnaround plan and cut costs by 400 billion yen (USD 2.6 billion). “There is no risk, or there is no impact for India as far as the plans for In-dia are concerned, they will remain intact.