Maruti Suzuki profit slides as chip shortage slams production

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd posted a 65.3% plunge in second-quarter net profit on Wednesday, as a worldwide semiconductor shortage hammered production at the country's largest carmaker.

Car makers have been forced to make sharp production cuts this year as supply chain disruptions and booming demand for consumer electronics have led to an acute shortage of chips, which have become a critical component in automobiles, powering everything from fuel injection to entertainment systems.

Maruti cut production by 60% in September, citing the shortage. Its passenger car sales for the month dipped 67.4%.

An estimated 116,000 vehicles could not be produced due to the electronics component shortage, the car maker said .

Maruti, which sells every second car in India, said unit sales fell to 379,541 vehicles in the quarter from 393,130 units a year earlier.

The company posted a profit of 4.75 billion rupees ($63.38 million) for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with a profit of 13.72 billion rupees a year earlier.
 

Still, total revenue from operations rose 9.6% to 205.39 billion rupees in the reported quarter.