Suzuki boss wants to keep calm and carry on | Economic Times

Mumbai: Suzuki Motor Corp (SMC) chairman Osamu Suzuki expects the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in India to be more drawn out than initially expected, said Citi, citing a post-earnings conference call he held with investors on Tuesday in Japan. Its Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) unit is the country’s largest carmaker and accounts for over half of SMC’s global sales by volume.The Indian subsidiary has orders for 100,000 vehicles, Suzuki said. Supply chain challenges have been addressed and domestic production is expected to be in the range of 60,000 units for June. That implies MSIL will be working at 30 per cent capacity utilisation based on the current installed capacity of about 180,000 units a month. The company is likely to end May with a production of 34,000 vehicles.76055775Despite the slow recovery, MSIL doesn’t plan to make drastic changes in strategy as it looks to maintain its 50 per cent share of the Indian market. Suzuki informed Japanese investors that May sales in India are down to 40 per cent of pre-Covid levels but dealer traffic has improved to about 80 per cent of that before the outbreak took hold. SMC attributed the drop in operating income to the slump in India sales, unfavourable forex movement and the impact of Covid-19.India’s automobile market was finishing up one of its worst years ever when the pandemic struck, forcing a lockdown. Auto sales dropped to zero in April.