Car majors halt production in flood-hit Chennai

Leading car makers Hyundai, Ford and Renault-Nissan were forced to suspend operations on Wednesday, as torrential rains flooded their production plants in the Tamil Nadu capital.

"Production work has been suspended for the day, as rain water gushed into the plant and our employees could not turn up due to transport disruption," a Hyundai official said.

The Korean auto major was among the first to set up its Indian plant at Sriperumbudur in this coastal city, which is called 'Detroit of India', after Ford, Renault-Nissan and other car makers came calling.

Hyundai will review the situation on Thursday and decide when to resume production, though the Met office has predicted more rains this week due to the formation of low pressure over the Bay of Bengal.

Similarly, Ford India's subsidiary plant at Chengalpattu, 45 km from the city centre, was shut down after rain water flooded the facility and its workers could not to reach the factory, as commutation became difficult on flood-ravaged roads.

"We have halted production at our plant due to heavy rains flooding the area and approach roads remaining cut off owing to water logging," a company spokesperson said.

French-Japanese auto alliance Renault-Nissan also suspended operations for the day at its plant in Oragadam for the safety of its employees, as the whole area was flooded with rain water.

"Resumption will depend on normalcy returning as employees' safety is paramount. We are monitoring the situation," Renault India chief executive Sumit Sawhney said in a statement.

A. Satish Kumar, general secretary for the Chennai Ford Employees Union, told IANS: "Ford India has declared holidays on December 2-6 due to heavy rains. However, need-based employees involved in maintenance and production would be called for duty. That also depends on the situation."

According to people close to truck-maker Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, the company's plant worked half-a-day on Tuesday and it was a holiday on Wednesday.