Maruti Suzuki reports over two-fold dip in production in September

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) witnessed a massive over two-fold drop in production last month owing to the shortage of semiconductor chips.

In a regulatory filing, the auto major reported total production of 81,278 units in September as compared with 1,66,086 units in September 2020.

"Production volume of the company in September 2021 was affected due to electronic components shortage," it noted.

MSI said total passenger vehicle production stood at 77,782 units last month, as against 1,61,668 units in September 2020.

Production of mini cars comprising Alto and S-Presso models stood at 17,163 units last month as against 30,492 units a year ago.

Similarly, manufacturing of compact cars, comprising WagonR, Celerio, Ignis, Swift, Baleno and Dzire, declined to 29,272 units from 90,924 units earlier, MSI said.

Production of utility vehicles -- Gypsy, Ertiga, S-Cross, Vitara Brezza and XL6 -- dropped to 21,873 units last month from 26,648 units in the corresponding month of 2020.

The company also reported a drop in the production of its Eeco van at 8,025 units last month as compared with 11,183 units in September 2020.

MSI said production of its light commercial vehicle Super Carry stood at 3,496 units last month, as against 4,418 units in the year-ago month.

MSI had reported a 8 per cent drop in total production in August on a yearly basis at 1,13,937 units.

On August 31, the auto major had announced that it expects total vehicle production in September across its plants in Haryana and Gujarat to be just 40 per cent of the normal output due to the semiconductor shortage.

The company's production capacity at Gurgaon and Manesar plants in Haryana is around 15 lakh units per annum.

Besides, Suzuki Motor Gujarat (SMG), a 100 per cent subsidiary of Japan's Suzuki Motor Corporation, has an additional installed production capacity of 7.5 lakh units per annum.

SMG supplies cars exclusively to MSI.

Semiconductors are silicon chips that cater to control and memory functions in products ranging from automobiles, computers and cell phones to various other electronic items.

The usage of semiconductors in the auto industry has gone up globally in recent times with new models coming with more and more electronic features such as Bluetooth connectivity and driver-assist, navigation and hybrid-electric systems.