Maruti cuts vehicle production by 18 per cent in May

The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has cut vehicle production by over 18 per cent in May, according to a regulatory filing. It is the company's fourth consecutive month of taking a production cut. The car market leader produced a total of 1,51,188 units in May, including Super Carry LCV, down 18.1 per cent from 1,84,612 units in the year-ago month, MSI said in the filing.

Barring Super Carry, the company reduced production of all other segments, including that of its big selling compact and mini cars last month.

MSI slashed production of passenger vehicles, including Alto, Swift and Dzire, by 18.88 per cent to 1,48,095 as compared to 1,82,571 units in May 2018. The company cut production of mini segment vehicles by 42.29 per cent to 23,874 units last month as against 41,373 units in the year-ago period. MSI also slashed production of compact segment cars by 9.54 per cent to 84,705 units in May from 93,641 units in corresponding month of last year. Production of utility vehicles also witnessed a decline of 3.21 per cent to 24,748 units, as against 25,571 units in May last year.

The company said production of vans declined by 34.99 per cent to 10,934 units last month compared to 16,819 units in May 2018.
MSI had cut production by around 10 per cent across its factories in April. In March, the company had reported a production cut of 20.9 per cent across its factories. In February, the company had cut production by over 8 per cent to 1,48,959 units from 1,62,524 units produced in the year-ago month.

Auto manufacturers have been facing muted sales for quite some time now. The slowdown has forced companies to adjust their production schedules to market demand. Last week, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) said it will shut production across plants for up to 13 days in the ongoing quarter to adjust to market demand. Overall passenger vehicle sales in India dropped over 17 per cent in April, the worst monthly fall in nearly eight years, as subdued sentiment and the ongoing liquidity crunch hit car sales.