Maruti Suzuki's production slumps nearly 18% in December

Maruti Suzuki India's production in December 2022 was down by 17.96 per cent at 124,722 units, reveals a regulatory filing from the automaker. The auto manufacturer had a total production of 152,029 units in the same month a year ago. The automaker has attributed this production fall to a conscious decision of controlled manufacturing in a bid to keep its inventory level very low from January 2023.

The regulatory filing has said further that the production of mini and compact cars, comprising models such as the Alto, Alto K10, S-Presso, Celerio, WagonR, Swift, Ignis, Baleno, Dzire in December last year was lower than their production volume in December 2021. A total of 83,753 vehicles were built in this category last month, down from 106,090 units in December 2021.

The filing further added that in the utility vehicle segment, where Maruti Suzuki is aiming to grab more market share with models like Brezza, Ertiga, Jimny, S-Cross and XL6, production was lower at 27,303 units, as compared to 31,794 units in the same month a year ago. In the light commercial vehicle segment, too, Maruti Suzuki reduced Super Carry's production to 587 units in December 2022, as compared to 3,262 units registered in December 2021.

Speaking about the strategy of keeping the inventory level very low starting January 2023, Maruti Suzuki India's Senior Executive Officer, Marketing and Sales, Shashank Srivastava, has said that the automaker wanted to control the production because it wanted to keep the top level down. "We did not want to carry the stock of 2022 models," he said.

Meanwhile, Maruti Suzuki has also reported that it experienced a 9.9 per cent decline in total wholesales at 139,347 units in December 2022, compared to the same month a year ago. On a month-on-month basis as well, the automaker posted a 14.1 per cent decline in sales in December 2022, as compared to November last year.