A week long standoff between workers and management of country’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki is affecting the company’s production capacity badly. On one hand, the bookings of its Swift model, which was launched about a fortnight ago, have reached the 90,000 units mark. On the other hand, the striking workers have forced the company to stop the bookings of this largest selling premium sedan in India.
The intensity of the problem can be analyzed looking at the fact that the current production figures of new Maruti Swift are falling way short of what was planned by the company earlier. In past one week, the company was able to produce mere 500 Swift models as compared to the previously planned production mark of 8,400 units in the same period. The company produced 200 units of Swift on Monday.
The company dealers are not in the situation to accept anymore bookings as existing backlog may take up to 6 months to be cleared. The high booking period may force a considerable number of buyers to change their plans and opt for cars which are available with very short delivery period such as Ford Figo, Toyota Etios Liva, Chevrolet Beat and Nissan Micra.
In a statement given to ET, Mayank Pareek, managing executive officer (marketing & sales), said, "There could be issues with the dealers as the current crisis has resulted in uncertainty. We normally give an anticipated delivery period to customers but as we are facing issues at the Manesar plant over production of the new Swift, dealers must have decided to stop taking fresh requests."
