After shutting down the production for around 2 months, Maruti Suzuki has resumed operations at its Manesar plant, where the company producing cars with 50% workforce
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the country’s largest-selling carmaker, has restarted production at its Manesar facility after a hiatus of more than a month. Initially, the carmaker will operate just one shift at its production hub near Gurgaon.
The company has also re-opened 600 dealerships after some relaxations have been provided in the nationwide-lockout. Other than a plant in Manesar, the company also has a plant in Gurgaon. Also, there’s another one in Gujarat but both these will remain shut for some time now. The Manesar and Gurgaon plants together have a capacity of 15.5 lakh units.
On a daily basis, both the manufacturing plants produce around 5,000 vehicles, when running in full capacity. The Manesar-based facility churns out a larger number of vehicles among the two. This plant is used for the manufacturing of the Dzire, WagonR, S-presso, Ciaz and Ertiga.
Speaking on the restarting of production, a press statement by Maruti read,“All activities would be carried out strictly in accordance with the government regulations and guidelines and observing the company’s own concern for the highest standards of safety.” As of now, Maruti’s inventory, which includes stock pileup in stockyards and dealers, stands at roughly 1,30,000 units. On the other hand, the company had clocked a domestic sale of 78,344 units in March.
The company has also started opening its dealerships in states where it has been able to obtain the required permission after putting in place a new standard operating procedure (SoP) that enhances safety. The company is also heavily relying on the digital infrastructure for vehicle sale during these times.
Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, has said, “All our dealerships have put in place steps to ensure complete safety, hygiene and sanitisation of all touch points. The steps are aimed at removing hesitation on the part of buyers to visit showrooms to take delivery of vehicles. The SoP designed by the company encapsulates all the facets of customer interactions. From the time a customer walks into the showroom till the final delivery of the vehicle, all processes have been scientifically studied.”
Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director, Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, has commented, “Over the last few days we have been able to make 600-odd dealerships operational across the country.” The company has around 3,080 dealerships spread across 1,960. So far, the company has opened up 474 Arena dealerships, 80 Nexa outlets and 45 commercial vehicle sales outlets.
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd is not the only carmaker to have resumed operations. Nissan India recently announced the restart of dealer dispatch of its BS-VI vehicles from its alliance manufacturing facility in Chennai. With this, the carmaker has started shipping cars to its dealerships in green and orange zone across the nation. Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd (NMIPL), the marketing and sales organization, has even restarted its office in Gurgaon as per the government-prescribed guidelines.
“Health and safety remain our topmost priority and we are cognizant that precaution is best cure during this challenging situation. In continuation to our customer-centric approach, adhering to all local Govt. guidelines and following all necessary health and safety parameters, we have commenced operations across India as part of our business continuity plan”, said, Rakesh Srivastava, Managing Director, Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd. Clearly, it’s a merely a matter of few days before every carmaker in India restarts operations, albeit, with a lot of precautionary measures to ensure the safety of its customers and employees.