The nation's biggest utility vehicle maker, Mahindra and Mahindra Limited, will halt production for up to three days this January at its automotive factories in order to align their output figures with their sales requirements. The company recently issued a recent statement to the stock market, stating, "The management does not envisage any adverse impact on availability of vehicles in the market due to adequacy of vehicle stocks to serve the market requirements." They further added, “The company, as part of aligning its production with sales requirements, would be observing 'no production days' at the company’s automotive plants for 1 to 3 days during the remaining period of January, 2014.”
The curse of falling sales on the Indian automobile industry has now entered its second year as high interest rates and fuel costs effectively continue to keep the consumer from spending in a slowing economy. M&M's passenger car sales figures in December, 2013 managed to reach 16,436 units, a 28% drop from December, 2012. And as for the period of April - December 2013, Mahindra managed to sell 166,622 units, indicating a dip to the tune of 18% as compared to the same period last year. The carmaker's recent launches like the Quanto and the Verito Vibe have failed to perform, and now the demand for the XUV500 also seems to be taking a hit as it continues to be stuck around the 2,500-3,000 mark.
Additionally, Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturers Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the group, would also be observing no production days at the company's Chakan plant for up to 3 days during the remaining period of January, 2014.
