Maruti says long waiting periods amid chip shortage can impact vehicle demand

The automobile industry around the world continues to be impacted by the shortage of semiconductors which has affected the supply of new vehicles and prolonged waiting time for customers. The longer waiting periods can in turn have a negative impact on car demand, as per a senior official of Maruti Suzuki India.

The country's largest carmaker currently has a pending order of around 2.5 lakh units while its production was over 80 per cent of normal in November. While the demand for new vehicles has been growing, the supply-chain issues persist. "The bookings show that the demand continues to be quite robust, both in terms of inquiries and the bookings, but now availability is an issue and waiting periods have gone up," Maruti Suzuki Senior Executive Director - Marketing & Sales, Shashank Srivastava, told PTI.

He expressed his worry over the negative impact the supply crisis might have on the demand. “We are a little bit afraid that the longer waiting periods will affect the demand pattern and it can have a negative impact," he said. The waiting period of vehicles can range from weeks to months in the domestic passenger vehicles depending on the variant or model.

However, currently, there haven't been booking cancellations as the company has been constantly communicating with its customers, Srivastava informed. The company is contacting almost every customer every week, and updating them about the situation. “And most consumers, I'm happy to say, understand this and we are also very grateful that they have not cancelled that booking," he added.

He also informed that Maruti Suzuki is trying its "best to increase the production as much as possible" in order to overcome the situation. While things are improving, it will take time for them to become normal, he added.

Not just Maruti but various other OEMs in the industry all over the world are getting affected by the semiconductor chip crisis.

(with inputs from PTI)