The country's largest carmaker Maruti Udyog Ltd said today that sales in September will be down, like in August, as a result of the strike in DCM Industries' foundry unit, which supplies 70 per cent of the company's cylinder block requirement.
A senior company executive in Delhi said exports have been "drastically cut down" and the company has "kept a control on domestic sales in a moving market since production has been affected substantially".
Maruti managing director Jagdish Khattar said in Bhavnagar that the company is trying its best to make up for the shortage.
"We are trying to buy the component from other vendors in large numbers. Also, two experts from Suzuki, Japan have arrived here to help with the production," he said.
But Khattar warned: "We are afraid that if situation does not normalise by October, we will be badly affected as October is another important festival month when we witness higher sales, as in September."
"Unfortunately, our exports have also been affected," he added. The company executive from Delhi said, "Nothing has changed in September since the past months. We face the same problems despite making repeated petitions to the government of Punjab."
The Maruti share which has been upbeat ever since its debut in July this year, dropped 2.37 per cent to Rs 219.95 on the Bombay Stock Exchange today. Maruti's car sales were down 3-4 per cent in August compared with the same month last year because of the supply lag.
But in the first four months of the fiscal, car sales were up almost 50 per cent, which has helped the industry grow as much as 30 per cent year-on-year.
Interestingly, a Maruti dealer in Delhi said there was no visible impact on sales this month.
"In August we had a problem. But this month, I think the demand supply position is extremely comfortable. We have ready stock in each model," said Raj Chopra, managing director of Competent Automobiles, Maruti's largest dealer in Delhi.