Indian carmaker Maruti Suzuki reported a 10pc drop in January production compared to the same month previous year. Total production in January stood at 160,975 units.
Production of mini, compact and vans segment suffered while mid-sized, utility vehicles and light commercial vehicles’ (LCV) production was higher than previous year.
Total passenger cars production was down 11pc to 156,439 units in January from 2020 levels. LCV production rose 81pc to 4,536 units in January compared to a year ago.
Maruti Suzuki has two main manufacturing plants in India with a combined annual production capacity of 1.2mn units. Gurugram unit can manufacture 240,000 units and the Manesar unit has a production capacity of 800,000 units annually. Maruti’s production is also carried out in facility in Gujarat owned by Suzuki Motor Corporation and has a production capacity of 500,000 units.
With a global shortage of semiconductors, most automakers had to cut production in early-December 2020. Auto associations in India have noted that shortage of these chips is hampering production, in addition to high prices of raw materials. Even now, several companies around the world have halted production due to chip shortage.