Coronavirus outbreak: Hyundai, Toyota, Maruti Suzuki suspend operations indefinitely

Hyundai Motor India announced that it will suspend production at its Chennai facility from Monday, March 23 till further notice in the wake of coronavirus outbreak in the country.  In a statement late on Sunday night, Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) said, "We will await further notifications from the state (Tamil Nadu) government to resume operations at the plant".

Hyundai also stated that around 1,000 doorstep advantage bikes and emergency road service cars will be provided for any assistance to customers as part of the safety initiatives.

On Sunday, several automotive manufacturing companies decided to halt their operations at their respective plants due to the pandemic.

Among the Indian automakers that have closed their operations tentatively are Maruti Suzuki, Hero Motor Corp, Toyota, Fiat and Honda cars.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, country's largest vehicle manufacturer, on Sunday, announced its decision to stop manufacturing vehicles in Haryana's Manesar and Gurugram plants for an indefinite period. Besides, the carmaker also said that work at the research and development centre in Rohtak will also be stopped from March 23.

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Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has also put brakes on manufacturing at its Bidadi facility in Karnataka till further announcement. TKM said the safety of employees was its top priority. The company has also expanded work from home for all its employees in its regional SBUs (Strategic Business Units) in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore.

Hero MotoCorp Ltd, country's largest two-wheeler manufacturer also decided to stop work in factories across the country, including its research and development facility in Jaipur till 31 March.

Italian auto major Fiat has also suspended production at its factories till the end of this month in the wake of coronavirus. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles that makes the Compass SUV in India and Fiat Automobiles Pvt Ltd have also announced they will suspend operations at their Ranjangaon factory till the end of this month.

"There will be no retrenchment of any plant employees as a result of the plant closure and all will continue to receive their salaries during this closure period". Fiat said.

India's biggest automaker Tata Motors has also said it was winding down its main Pune factory to skeletal operations till March 31.

Honda Cars India has suspended operations at both its manufacturing plants till March 31, 2020. Honda Cars India has two facilities in Great Noida (UP) and Tapukara (Rajasthan). Honda Cars has also adopted "work from home" measures for its employees, except for those involved in running essential services.

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