Maruti could not produce 51k units due to chip crunch in Q1

New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki could not produce 51,000 units in the April-June quarter owing to the ongoing chip shortage situation, according to a senior company official.

The country's largest carmaker, which sold a total of 4,67,931 vehicles during the June quarter, noted that the semiconductor shortage is a challenge in planning its production activities. "The electronics component shortages are still limiting our production volumes. In this quarter (Q1), the company could not produce 51,000 vehicles," Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) CFO Ajay Seth said in an analyst call. Limited visibility on availability of electronics components is a challenge in planning our production, he stated. Seth noted that the company's supply chain, engineering, production and sales teams were working towards maximising the production volume from available semiconductors.

"The supply situation of electronic components continues to remain unpredictable," he lamented. With demand remaining robust, the company's pending order backlog has touched the 3.5 lakh unit-mark. Seth further stated that input cost pressure, led by the increase in commodity prices, was another challenge that the company faced during the June quarter. "The company has always strived to provide mobility to masses and continued to work on focused cost reduction efforts to limit the impact of commodity inflation on selling prices," he said. MSI Executive Director (Corporate Planning and Government Affairs) Rahul Bharti said the orders for new Brezza and Grand Vitara were nearing the one lakh units. "Going forward, the company will strive to further strengthen its SUV portfolio to dominate the SUV segment, just like all other segments," he said.