Car makers plan to shut factories for maintenance

With the end of the year inching closer, car makers have planned to shut their factories for maintenance. This practice helps manufacturers control their inventory stock of cars before the new year begins. 

Maruti Suzuki has proposed to keep its plants shut from 27th December to 3rd January and car makers like Renault-Nissan will not operate its factory in Chennai from 28th December to 3rd January. Sources revealed that Maruti’s production output has been cut from a regular monthly count of 1.24 lakh to 1.12 lakh units in December to felicitate the shutdown in operations.

Car makers have taken up this strategy in a bid to reduce the current year stocks from spilling onto the new year. These cars are usually sold with a discounted price tag. Some manufacturers take this as an opportunity to offer, a much anticipated, year end vacation for employees. Ford and BMW India operations advanced their maintenance shutdowns ahead of Christmas to support the repair and maintenance work that was undertaken following the floods in Chennai. On the other hand, Hyundai has decided against this practice for this year so that it can meet the current demand for its vehicles here and overseas.

Over the years, car manufacturers would usually shut shop twice a year to felicitate this maintenance schedule, however, in recent times they’ve resorted to timing the shutdowns during Diwali.