Slowdown Blues: Maruti Suzuki cuts production for 7th straight month in Aug, output drops by 34%

Amidst weak demand and a liquidity crunch, Maruti Suzuki India on Monday said it has cut its production by 34 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in August, the seventh consecutive month in which it trimmed output.

In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the country's biggest car maker said it produced a total of 111,370 units in August, 2019 as compared to 168,725 units produced in the same month last year. The mini segment, which comprises cars like Alto and old WagonR, saw the steepest decline of 62.93 per cent with the company producing just 13,814 units against 37,268 units rolled out in the year-ago period.

The total production of mini and compact segment cars including New WagonR, Celerio, Ignis, Swift, Baleno and Dzire dropped by 34.1 per cent to 80,909 units as against 1,22,824 units in August last year, it said.

Production of passenger vehicles stood at 1,10,214 units versus 1,66,161 units in August 2018, registering a fall of 33.67 per cent, Maruti said in the exchange filing.

Also Read: Slowdown blues: Maruti Suzuki reports 33% drop in August sales at 1,06,413 units

Meanwhile, light commercial vehicle output also fell to 1,156 units as compared to 2,564 units in August 2018.

The company's mid-sized sedan Ciaz saw its output tumbling to 2,285 units versus 6,149 units in the same period last fiscal.

Utility vehicles segment, which comprises of Vitara Brezza, Ertiga and S-Cross, reported a decline of 34.85 per cent to 15,099 units versus 23,176 units in the year-ago month.

Also Read: Slowdown Blues: Car sales crash 29% in August; all eyes on Sep 20 GST meet

On Sunday, Maruti Suzuki India reported a 32.7 per cent decline in sales at 1,06,413 units in August as compared to 1,58,189 units sold in the same month last year. Exports in August were down by 10.8 per cent at 9,352 units as compared to 10,489 units in the same month last year.

With passenger vehicle sales falling by nearly a third in August, for the tenth successive month, several auto companies, including Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra, have announced production cuts. The domestic industry is in the midst of its worst slowdown ever, sales have declined in 13 of the last 14 months. The last time sales had grown was in October last year.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar