Slowdown in automobile sales forces parts makers to tread with caution

Few suppliers curtailing production to four or five days a week depending on the schedule of their customers

Slowdown in the country’s automobile industry, one of the worst in several years, has hit small-scale suppliers of auto components. However, the larger ones, having an expansive customer base and access to export markets, are tiding over the downturn better.

Diversification into non-auto segments undertaken in the past few years has also given them hope to face slowdown in the core business better. But everyone remains cautious.

Following a muted growth of 2 per cent in the fiscal year that ended in March 21, 2019, passenger vehicle sales in the country declined 17 per cent in April, the steepest since 2011. 

Other segments,