Nissan posts 23% growth in production despite major constraints: MD
The Hindu
Created special mitigation plan with a cross functional taskforce to work with global teams and supply chain partners
Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd. (NMIPL) has registered 23% growth in production for the year ended FY23 despite numerous supply chain issues, said MD Rakesh Srivastava. “FY23 was challenging with supply constraints leading to semiconductor shortages. But as of February 2023, Nissan produced over 83,000 units with a growth of 23%,” he said in an interaction.
According to Mr. Srivastava, in the last two years, the automobile sector faced saw several sequential crises, including shortage of semiconductors. “So, we created a special mitigation plan with a cross functional taskforce working with global teams and supply chain partners to strengthen our supply chain, particularly in terms of semiconductor availability to meet market demand for our product,” he said. On the supply side, Nissan also faced challenges in terms of rising cost of commodities, inflation and input costs. “Despite these pressures, our price hikes have been far lower than the price increases taken by competitive models as we took multiple initiatives with supply chain partners to manage rising costs,” he said. At the same time, to retain customers, Nissan accorded top priority to ensure delivery of a quality products. Besides, cars were delivered at the book price at the time of delivery, absorbing all the cost increases. “Currently, with improved supply, Nissan Magnite has a waiting period ranging from 3 to 8 weeks specific to a variant and colour choice,” he added. Asked about the next year plan, he said: “We expect consolidation of passenger vehicle demand on the continued recovery of the economy with projected GDP growth of 6.5% for FY24. Consequently, our production target for FY24 will reflect this reality in line with market growth.”
Since the start of production in 2010, Nissan has produced over 1.5 million units from the Chennai facility. In FY23, Nissan crossed the export milestone of 1 million cars. “The Nissan Magnite has the unique distinction of being the 1 millionth vehicle, now being exported to 15 countries. The demand for the Magnite is driving the business in domestic and export market. It has crossed the 50,000-unit production milestone,” he said. According to Mr. Srivastava, the domestic market will remain a top priority for Nissan, even as it plans to strengthen its exports. Nissan Magnite will see introduction of multiple product interventions, including left hand drive, for export markets such as Latin America and Mexico. “In October, it showcased premium sport utility vehicles – X-trail, Qashqai, and Juke. SUVs are currently tested on suitability to Indian driving conditions over various terrains of hills, coastal regions and plains,” he said. In Feb. ’23, the alliance partners announced additional investment of ₹5,300 crore towards investment in new products and technologies. As per the investment plan, Nissan will be introducing three new models, including two C segment SUVs and one A-SUV in the EV space.