Second Shift At Maruti's Gujarat Plant To Help Ease Demand Pressure

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India expects easing of waiting period pressure of its top-selling models Baleno and Vitara Brezza SUV, with parent Suzuki ramping up production at the Gujarat plant by adding a second shift from this month, a senior company official said. The Hansalpur-based facility in Gujarat is Suzuki Motor Corporation's first wholly-owned unit in India. It has been producing close to 10,000 units of premium hatchback Baleno a month. The model currently has a waiting period of 18-19 weeks while that of compact SUV Brezza is nearly 20 weeks.

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"From October onwards, a second shift is being added at the Gujarat plant. This will ease pressure at our Gurgaon and Manesar plants, especially for Baleno and Brezza," Maruti Suzuki India Senior Executive Director, Marketing and Sales, R S Kalsi told PTI.

On a single shift, the plant has been rolling out 10,000 units. MSI is slated to receive 1.5 lakh units of Baleno from the Gujarat plant of Suzuki this fiscal. He, however, said there will not be immediate doubling of output as the ramp-up will happen gradually.

MSI produces Baleno at its Manesar plant, besides getting it from Suzuki's Gujarat facility. On the other hand, Brezza is rolled out from its Gurgaon facility.

Stating that MSI has been gradually ramping up production of Baleno; Kalsi said, "We started with around 8,000 units a month. Now, we are at around 12,000 units. The waiting period for the model has also been reduced to 18-19 months at present from around 24 weeks."

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On Brezza, he said the waiting period is at around 20 weeks.

"We are having continuous robust demand for the Brezza and even if we have increased output, the orders are coming in and that's why this model still has a high waiting period," Kalsi added.

With additional units of Baleno coming in from the Gujarat plant, Kalsi said, "We will have some room to adjust for production of other models at our two facilities at Manesar and Gurgaon."

Asked about prospects of festive season sales, he said overall, it has begun well for the company.

"In the first five months of the fiscal, our sales have grown by 18 per cent. During the festive seasons, we are looking at around 18-20 per cent growth compared to the year- ago period," he added.

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Kalsi, however, said the high 18 per cent growth will not be sustained during the course of the fiscal as the previous year's second half numbers were high.

"Yet, we are confident that our sales will be in double digits this fiscal," Kalsi added.

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