Semiconductor shortages that prompted the closure of vehicle manufacturing factories have reduced Maruti Suzuki's market share to one of its lowest levels in a month, as per sale data shared by each company for September.
At 33.95 percent, the Delhi-based company’s market share in the domestic passenger vehicle segment in September marked a sharp decline from the usual 46-50 percent share that Maruti Suzuki has enjoyed in the past.
The maker of Swift and Brezza slashed production at both its plants in Haryana in step with a cut in production at the Gujarat plant controlled by Suzuki Motor Corp. In total Maruti Suzuki was able to generate only 40 percent of normal production during September.
An acute crunch in chip availability at the global level has hit every automaker across each segment. The impact has been the most severe on Maruti Suzuki. October is the third month in a row that production at the car market leader’s plants is less than planned.
October production for Maruti Suzuki is expected to be 40 percent less than its normal level, but better than the September level.
Rival Tata Motors has been able to not only maintain its production levels but even ramp up output to cater to a consistent increase in demand. The Mumbai-based company, which is also India’s third largest manufacturer of passenger vehicles, has emerged as the biggest beneficiary of Maruti Suzuki’s handicap.
By the close of September, Tata Motors’s domestic PV market share stood at 13.84 percent, one of its best levels in more than a decade. The growth can be attributed to strong demand for the Nexon, Altroz, Tiago and Harrier. While Maruti Suzuki will be under pressure in October, Tata Motors will further ramp up production in the same month to support the launch of the new model, Punch, which is expected to debut on October 20.
Sports utility vehicle specialist Mahindra & Mahindra has also gained market share during September thanks to the Thar and XUV300. The local units of Skoda and Volkswagen too have improved their share due to the Kushaq and Taigun SUVs, respectively.
Maruti Suzuki, however, maintained that the company is sitting on pending booking orders of more than 215,000 units, which is almost two months of its current production level. The company has not given any guidance on production levels for the coming months.
The waiting period for some of Maruti’s best-selling models like the Ertiga, especially the CNG version, has gone up to six months.
Shashank Srivastava, senior executive director, marketing and sales at Maruti Suzuki, said: “We have pending customer bookings of over 215,000 units. While we are striving to meet this demand despite semiconductor shortage owing to the COVID situation, we are grateful to our dear customers for their confidence in us. Hence wholesale market share over a one month period during an exceptional supply crisis does not carry any meaning.”
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