Suzuki cuts WagonR, Alto and other small car production by a massive 63%

• India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki trimmed over a third of its output, owing to the sales slowdown.
  
• Suzuki, in a stock exchange notice claimed that it has produced 111,370 units in August.
  
• The company’s domestic passenger vehicle sales also went down by 36.1% at 93,173 units.
  
• Suzuki shed over 1,000 temporary employees due to the slump in sales.

India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki trimmed over a third of its output, owing to sales slowdown. It reduced the output by 34% in August, the company said.

While it has been trimming output since February. In August, it produced only 111,370 units, Suzuki said in a stock exchange notice.

The 11-month auto slowdown has taken a toll on the automaker’s most lucrative segment. The small segment cars such as WagonR and Alto have been the worst hit with a 63% decline in output. It also trimmed the production of its mini segment cars Baleno and Swift by 34%.

This slash is in line in dull demand. In August, its sales for the mini segment declined by a massive 71% as compared to last year.

“Production is never steady in many industries and it depends on how the market behaves,” R C Bhargava, Chairman of Maruti Suzuki told The Financial Express.

The company’s domestic passenger vehicle sales also went down by 36% to 93,173 units.

Suzuki shed over 1,000 temporary employees, and is planning to freeze hiring.

Plant shutdowns

Top players like Tata Motors, Hero MotorCorp and Mahindra too have cut down production due to demand so sluggish that many dealerships have shuttered down.

Mahindra & Mahindra shut its operations for 25-30 days over the last two quarters.

Companies like Tata Motors, Honda Cars also shut its plants for nearly 4-10 days in the last few months, thanks to the declining demand.

Homegrown automotive multinational Jamna Auto Industries (JAI) and the third largest suspension spring manufacturer in the world suspended operations in August, Reuters reported. Some of its Indian and global clients include General Motors Co, Toyota Motor Corp, Tata Motors and Mahindra — all of whom are victims of a worldwide auto slowdown.

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