M&M to shut production for up to 6 days in coming months

Moneycontrol Bureau

India's largest utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra said on Thursday that it would stop production at its automotive plants for anywhere between 0 to 6 days in the forthcoming months to align production with sales requirements.

The company's subsidiary Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturers Ltd will also observe similar no production days at its plant at Chakan near Pune, it said.

The company had made a similar announcement last month, when it said there would be no production days at its plants for a period ranging from 1 to 8 days in July.

Utility vehicles, which saw strong growth for most of FY13, despite the overall slowdown in the automobile market, have hit speed bumps in recent months following the partial deregulation of diesel prices and hike in excise duty on SUVs by the Union Government.

Earlier in the day, Mahindra said its automotive sales in July declined 21 percent year-on-year to 37,096 units. Its passenger vehicle sales, which include UVs and the Verito car, were down 29 percent to 15,530 units.

India's largest passenger car maker Maruti Suzuki reported a 1 percent year-on-year rise in total sales in July at 83,299 units. However, it too saw UV sales plunge 38 percent to 4,562 units.

M&M shares closed down 4.4 percent at Rs 871.50 on NSE on Thursday.