Coronavirus impact: Maruti, Honda, Mahindra suspend manufacturing operations

The country's leading automakers, including Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), Mahindra & Mahindra and Honda Cars, on Sunday announced suspension of manufacturing activities across plants in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The country's largest car maker MSI halted production at its Gurgaon and Manesar plants with immediate effect, while Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) decided to suspend manufacturing at its two plants in the country till March 31. Similarly, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) announced to suspend production at its manufacturing plants in Maharashtra.

Automaker Fiat also put brakes on production in the country till the end of this month. In the two-wheeler segment, Hero MotoCorp and Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) suspended production across their manufacturing plants. MSI in a statement said, "The company will shut production and office operations at its facilities in Gurugram and Manesar (Haryana) with immediate effect till further notice."

The company's research and development centre at Rohtak will also remain closed, it added. The duration of this shutdown will depend upon government policy, MSI said. The company's two plants in Haryana Manesar and Gurgaon churn out 15.5 lakh vehicles per annum. MSI said it has been taking all recommended precautions against the spread of coronavirus, including sanitisation and hygiene measures.

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"As a next step, the government policy now requires closure of production and, accordingly, the company has taken a decision on production closure," it said. HCIL said production operations at both its manufacturing plants in Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh) and Tapukara (Rajasthan) will be temporarily suspended from March 23 till March 31.

The company said its intention is to restart production on April 1, however, this will be dependent upon advice from the government, health authorities, and market and supply conditions. M&M said it has suspended manufacturing operations at its Nagpur plant with immediate effect and will also halt production at Chakan (Pune) and Kandivali (Mumbai) from Monday.

None of the company plants is working on Sunday as well, M&M added. "We are carefully monitoring the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to take swift and appropriate action on other plants in Maharashtra and across the nation," the company said. Meanwhile, all company offices across the country have already implemented work from home, it added.

Similarly, automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) together with Fiat India Automobiles Private Limited (FIAPL), FCA's joint venture manufacturing facility in Ranjangaon, said the temporary suspension is in response to the increasing prevalence of positive COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra and particularly in Pune. "There will be no retrenchment of any plant employees as a result of the plant closure and all will continue to receive their salaries during this closure period, the company said. MG Motor India said production at its Halol (Gujarat) plant is closed till March 25.

Market leader Hero MotoCorp  said it has suspended production until March 31. "With the safety and well-being of its employees as top priority in view of the escalating COVID-19 situation, the company has decided to halt operations at all its global manufacturing facilities including in India, Colombia and Bangladesh and the Global Parts Centre (GPC) at Neemrana with immediate effect until March 31, 2020," Hero MotoCorp said.

Employees at all the other functions and locations, including the Centre of Innovation and Technology (CIT) at Jaipur, will continue to work from home, except for those whose physical presence is necessary to run the day-to-day essential services, it added. Similarly, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) said it has suspended operations across its four manufacturing plants in the country with immediate effect.

"The well-being of employees and all stakeholders being the top priority, the company has temporarily announced shutdown of operations across all its four manufacturing plants with immediate effect till further notice," HMSI said in a statement. The duration of this shutdown will depend upon the government policy, it added. 

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