Nissan may lay off over 1,700 employees in India as car sales slow down

• Japanese automobile multinational Nissan is considering laying off 12,500 employees worldwide in the next three years — including 1,710 in India.
  
• This accounts for 9% of the company’s total workforce.
  
• The company will trim nearly 4,700 employees in the US, Mexico, UK, Spain, Indonesia and Japan.
  
• The Japanese major will also decrease its production capacity by 10% by 2022.

The slowdown in auto sales led to a job crisis in the sector. Japanese multinational Nissan is considering laying off 12,500 employees worldwide in the next three years — 9% of the total workforce.

And, as many as 1,710 of these jobs will be slashed in India. The layoffs are expected to take place this year. However, the car maker has not specified the job roles which will be most affected.

Auto makers in India have been cutting production after sales have been dull for a year now. Jobs have been on the line too, as auto component makers and dealers are also facing the heat of declining sales.

The passenger vehicle sales in India dipped by 17% in April — the lowest in the last eight years, as per data by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

Nissan’s jobs cuts however extend beyond India. It will impact its employees mostly in the US, Mexico, UK, Spain, Indonesia and Japan, where it will trim nearly 4,700 jobs. And, a further 6,100 jobs will be cut across countries, between 2020 and 2022.

The Japanese major will also cut its production capacity by 10% by 2022 to “improve product competitiveness by focussing investment on global core models and strategic regional models,” BusinessLine reported.

This is in an effort to optimise operational cost, improve profits, and maintain consistency. The automaker’s net profit slumped drastically to a nine-year low at nearly ₹200 billion as on March 2019.

The company has been in trouble since November 2018, when its CEO, Carlos Ghosn was arrested in Tokyo on suspicions on financial misconduct. Ever since, the automobile giant witnessed slump in sales in almost every location.

Ghosn also sued Nissan for ₹1.16 billion saying that it had provided no evidence of misconduct.

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