Maruti Suzuki India continues to witness an impact on its manufacturing as semiconductor supply remains challenging and unpredictable, according to the company’s chief financial officer Ajay Seth. To deal with this situation, the auto major is now working on ways to maximize its performance from the available supply of electronic components.
Although the supply situation in the third quarter ending December 31, 2022 improved compared to the second quarter of this fiscal year, the country’s largest automaker was unable to produce around 46,000 units in the October-December period due to a shortage of semiconductors.
Seth said in a phone interview with an analyst “The limited visibility of electronic components is a challenge when planning our production. The shortage of electronic components continues to limit our production volumes, supply situation of electronic components remains unpredictable, Our supply chain, engineering, manufacturing and sales teams are working to maximize production volume from the available semiconductors”.
Backlog of MSI customers rose to approximately 3.63 million units at the end of the third quarter. Currently, the company has a cumulative production capacity of 15 million units per annum at both the Manesar and Gurugram plants. Additionally, it has access to 7.5 lakh units from Suzuki Motor’s parent plant in Gujarat.
Seth noted that the automaker believes in exploring the full spectrum of technologies such as hybrids, CNG, bio-CNG, ethanol and electricity to support the government’s twin goals of reducing oil imports and achieving net zero by 2070. The company is now trying to gain leadership in the sports utility segment with the launch of two new products – the Jimny and the Fronx.
When asked about the prospects for revenue growth, Maruti Suzuki’s Managing Director, Corporate Affairs India, Maruti Suzuki, Rahul Bharti said, “The demand scenario seems to be healthy now… the industry is yet to come up with a number… we think we should grow faster. than the industry.” On CNG sales, he noted that while the company is currently fine with its penetration level, it is also troubled by abnormally high fuel prices.
Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) sold a total of 4,65,911 vehicles during the third quarter. Domestic sales were 4,03,929 units while exports were 61,982 units. This was against total sales of 4,30,668 units, of which 3,65,673 units in domestic and 64,995 units in export markets in the same period of the previous year.
The company reported a more than two-fold jump in its net profit to Rs 2,351 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2022. Its net sales rose to Rs 27,849 crore compared to Rs 22,188 crore in the same period of 2021-22.
