MARUTI, HYUNDAI SAY PRODUCTION UNAFFECTED BY CORONAVIRUS

Car makers are monitoring the situation in China and elsewhere in the world closely

Major automobile manufacturers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Toyota Kirloskar Motor do not see any immediate impact on their production schedules due to disruption in supply of components from plants located in coronavirushit China.

The companies, however, continue to monitor the situation closely, especially the operations of their major suppliers, in order to face any adverse situation that crops up in the future.

“We do not foresee any problem as of now. We will keep in touch with our suppliers and will inform if there is any issue,” a Maruti Suzuki India spokesperson told PTI when contacted over the issue.

A Hyundai Motor India spokesperson said, “We are closely monitoring the situation. However, at the moment there is no impact on the functioning of the company.”

Similarly, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) said there has been no immediate impact so far on supply of parts and its production from the outbreak of coronavirus in China.

“Our tier-I and tier-II suppliers are not yet affected. However, we are continuously monitoring the operations of tier-III and tier-IV suppliers to grasp any possible slowdown that may come forth due to the slowdown in logistics flow in China, especially Wuhan,” said Naveen Soni, senior vice president (Sales and Service), TKM.

The company focuses on increasing the supply base through localisation of parts and components, thereby providing an opportunity for local suppliers, he added.

TKM remains committed to effectively contribute towards government’s ‘Make in India’ mission, and has developed a global supplier base and supply chain in India in a period of 20 years, Soni said.

“These localisation efforts have also ensured a smooth transition of our manufacturing plant to 100% BS 6 manufacturing facility from January 2020 without any significant supply roadblocks. Simultaneously, our dependency on multi-sourced parts has allowed us flexibility of sourcing from other countries when China has an impact,” he added.

Kia Motors India said its production has also remained unaffected so far.

“The coronavirus hasn’t impacted us till now, but we are keeping an eye on the development for gauging the future impact,” a company spokesperson said.

MG Motor India, however, reported disruption in supply chain which impacted its production and sales performance in February.

“The unforeseen coronavirus outbreak has severely affected our European and Chinese supply chains, disrupting our production and impacting our sales in February and will continue through March,” said Rakesh Sidana, director (Sales), MG Motor India.

The company is working towards stabilising the situation and is hopeful that reasonable normalcy will be restored by the end of March, he added.

Tata Motors declined to comment on the issue, but its CEO and managing director Guenter Butschek had previously said that clarity about supply constraints of components from China will only emerge when workers in the coronavirus-hit country rejoin work.

The company imports certain components for both Nexon EV and other traditional models from China.

Auto industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) had earlier said that it will collect information and data from its members to understand if there could be disruptions, and to what extent, if any. (