New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, country’s largest vehicle manufacturer, on Sunday, announced its decision to stop manufacturing vehicles in the two factories located in Haryana, indefinitely. Work at the research and development centre in Rohtak will also be stopped from tomorrow.
“The government policy now requires closure of production and accordingly the company has taken a decision on production closure. The company will shut production and office operations at its facilities in Gurugram and Manesar, Haryana, with immediate effect till further notice. The research and development centre at Rohtak will also remain closed. The duration of this shutdown will depend upon government policy,” the company said in a regulatory filing.
The company, though, didn’t mention any similar steps being taken at its Gujarat-based factory, owned and operated by Suzuki Motor Gujarat, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corp.
As the number of persons infected with the novel coronavirus rises significantly in India, leading automakers, across segments, have decided to shut down respective manufacturing capacities to protect their factory staff and comply with the state and central government’s efforts to ensure social distancing.
Hero MotoCorp Ltd, country’s largest two wheeler manufacturer, on Sunday, announced its decision to stop work in factories across the country, including its research and development facility in Jaipur till 31 March. The manufacturing capacities in other nations like Colombia and Bangladesh will also remain closed.
With number of cases rising in the Pune region of Maharashtra, automakers like Fiat Chrysler Automobiles India Pvt Ltd, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd and Tata Motors Ltd, with manufacturing capacities in the vicinity, have also decided to stop production. According to senior executives of the major component manufacturing companies, other Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are also likely to follow suit in the coming days.
“In light of heightened concern on spread of coronaVirus in Maharashtra, we have decided to suspend the manufacturing operations at our Nagpur plant with immediate effect and Chakan (Pune) and Kandivali (Mumbai) from Monday night onwards. None of the plants are working on Sunday, March 22, 2020,”said Mahindra and Manhindra in a regulatory filing on Sunday.
