MUMBAI: As part of a larger global right-sizing, Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor will be handing pink slips to over 1,700 workforce in India.As the carmaker hits a decadelow profits globally, it has taken a decision to fire about 12,500 workers across the world over the next three years. Of these, over 6,400 workers have already been asked to leave and the balance workforce will be informed in the coming two to three years. India accounts for about 13.5% of the people fired.In a presentation to the investors in Tokyo on Thursday, the company said as part of its initiative to improve efficiency, it will give pink slips to workers around the world. Apart from India, Nissan will be asking over 1,420 employees from the US, about 1,000 employees from Mexico, 830 in Indonesia and another 880 employees from two facilities in Japan.Nissan Motor India, as part of the new mid-term plan announced in September 2018, had come out with the Employee Voluntary Separation Scheme 2018 as part of its measures to cut cost. People in the know say the process had begun in India almost six months back, though not many employees warmed up to the scheme, a part of that 1,700 workforce is part of the plan.On its part, Nissan Motor has not had a good time in the Indian market during its decade-long presence in the country. Its attempt to crack the mass market with the Datsun brand and challenge Maruti Suzuki failed miserably. The mother brand Nissan which took a back seat, while the focus had shifted on Datsun, the brand today sells lesser than some of the luxury car brands in India. Its latest attempt to reinforce the Nissan mother brand with the launch of Kicks SUV too failed miserably, with the model averaging merely about 200-300 units per month.The brand has been persistently hurt by change in top management and weak sales and marketing strategy, say experts. At the end of FY19, Nissan Motor India sold 36,525 units, registering a decline of 30% in a market that grew 3%, and this despite the launch of new Kicks. Even in the three months of this financial year, Nissan Motor India’s sales have halved to 5,000 units with a market share of just 0.75%.At the end of FY18, the company was sitting on a loss of Rs 238 crore on the revenue of about Rs 9,777.8 crore, as per the data from Veratech Intelligence. Despite its sub-optimal presence in India, the exports have played key role in the survival of Nissan Motor’s operation in the country. People close to the company say exports will continue to play an important role and with one new product plan every year, Nissan will try harder to make its place in the Indian market.“With such a large factory, R&D set up including digital hub, there is a lot at stake for India. Yes, the brand has been hit, but there is a plan being put in place to revive the operation,” added the person requesting anonymity. When reached out to Nissan Motor India spokesperson on the implication of the global right-sizing, the spokesperson offered “no comments”.