Maruti cumulative sales in April 2019 stood at 1,43,245 units
The past month saw all production at a standstill with all company plants shut. Dealerships were also closed and the whole country was in a lockdown mode due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While there were no domestic sales, the recent opening of the Mundra port has registered export shipment of 632 units.
Exports were done taking every effort to follow the stringent guidelines for sanitization. These ominous signs stated in the month of March 2020 itself when the company cut production by 32 percent and saw domestic wholesales dip to 79,080 units, down 46.4 percent when compared to March 2019.
Also Read – Maruti Plant Shut Down
The company suspended operations from March 22, 2020 in line with the national policy. April 2020 started off with all plants shut and the company turning their attention to helping the Government of India in the fight against the corona virus pandemic.
Maruti Suzuki has aided the Government of India with production of ventilators, masks and other PPE for which the company entered into an arrangement with AgVa Healthcare, an approved manufacturer for ventilators. For the supply of 3 ply masks, Maruti Suzuki formed an alliance with Krishna Maruti Limited while Bharat Seats Limited is actively producing protective clothing to protect the safety and health of the workers in accordance with government recommended practices.
However, last week the company has received the green light to restart operations at its Manesar Plant. This permission is granted for only 600 employees as against full strength of 4,696 personnel.
Also Read – Maruti May Start Production
After more than a month of non production, this will allow the company to prepare the plant for full scale manufacture which could start in a few weeks as the Government of India relaxes the lockdown orders in a phased manner.
Maruti Suzuki’s Gurugram plant has capacity of 7 lakh units per annum and works in two shifts with the WagonR, Ertiga and Vitara Brezza produced at this plant. The Manesar plant, is from where models like the Alto and Dzire are rolled out and has an output of 8,80,000 units per annum in two shifts. The production at both these plants came to a standstill on 22nd March while operations were also stopped at Maruti Suzuki’s Rohtak R&D Centre.