Maruti Suzuki cuts down production as market slows
12 Aug 2011
Car market leader Maruri Suzuki India is cutting down production across most models except the Swift and Dzire models that have a pending demand. The company said its sales are not moving as fast as they should, due to a slowdown in the market.
"We have reduced production of all the models except Swift and DZire. The market is not doing well now," Shinzo Nakanishi, managing director and CEO of Maruti Suzuki India, said today.
He did not specify the extent of production cut or detail the models the production cut would affect most but said the company does not expect double-digit growth in the near term.
The slowdown, according to chairman R C Bhargava, will be shortlived and sales are expected to pick up by the festival season starting in October.
Bhargava said Maruti Suzuki hopes to finalise the location for a new Rs6,000-crore facility by October, adding that the company was looking at several locations in different states, including Gujarat for setting up the new facility.
Gujarat, he said, has an advantage as the Mundra port through which Maruti Suzuki serves most of its export markets, is located there.
The new facility, to be operational by 2017, will have a maximum capacity of a million cars, Bhargava said.
Maruti Suzuki sold a total of 75,300 vehicles in July 2011, including exports of 8,796 vehicles, against sales of 1,00,857 vehicles in July 2010.