Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest car manufacturer halted production of petrol cars at its Gugaon plant on March 9, 2013 with the aim of reducing pile up of inventory as a result of slowdown in demand for petrol cars in India.
The production halt by the company was implemented to decrease the number of pile up vehicle at its warehouses as well as to make room for the new car models being developed for both Indian and Global auto markets.
The month of February 2013 witnessed a fall of 9.01 percent in the company’s sales from 1,07,653 units sold in 2012 to 97,955 units sold in 2013 for the month. The carmaker plans to increase focus on small cars as part of its expansion strategy for developing markets. Moreover, it is also expected to develop 2 new sports utility vehicle for the Indian market as the SUV segment has witnessed sustained growth in 2012.
The Gurgaon manufacturing plant currently produces car models such as the M800 and the Alto range of small cars, the WagonR, the DZire sedan and the Ertiga LUV.