Maruti Suzuki witnessed two-fold dip in production in September amid chip crisis

Maruti Suzuki India saw a massive two-fold drop in production activities last month due to the ongoing global shortage of semiconductor chips. The country's largest automaker reported a total production of 81,278 units in September as compared to 1,66,086 units produced in September of 2020.

The automaker's total passenger vehicle production stood at 77,782 units last month as against 1,61,668 units in the corresponding year-ago period. Total production of mini cars such as Alto and S-Presso models stood at 17,163 units last month as compared to 30,492 units in the year-ago period. Similarly, manufacturing of compact cars such as WagonR, Celerio, Ignis, Swift, Baleno and Dzire dropped to 29,272 units last month from 90,924 units in September of 2020.

Production of Maruti's utility vehicles such as Gypsy, Ertiga, S-Cross, Vitara Brezza and XL6 dropped to 21,873 units last month from 26,648 units in the corresponding month of 2020. The carmaker also reported a drop in the production of its Eeco van at 8,025 units last month as compared with 11,183 units in September of 2020.

Production of Maruti's light commercial vehicle Super Carry stood at 3,496 units last month as compared to 4,418 units in the year-ago month. The company had reported an 8 per cent drop in total production in August on a yearly basis at 1,13,937 units.

In August, Maruti had predicted that its total vehicle production in September across its plants in Haryana and Gujarat will be just 40 per cent of the normal output due to the ongoing semiconductor shortage. The production capacity at its Gurgaon and Manesar plants in Haryana is around 15 lakh units per annum. The production capacity at its Gujarat plant has is at 7.5 lakh units per annum.

Various automakers in the country are struggling with the semiconductor chip shortage which has led to a disruption in production activities and vehicle dispatches to dealers amid peak festive season. Semiconductors are silicon chips that cater to control and memory functions in products ranging from automobiles, computers and cell phones to various other electronic items.

(with inputs from PTI)

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