[volkman10]

General motors too join the fray!

The company had shut production of key petrol models like Alto, Estilo and A-S tar for threedaysin May-end andearly this month . And it is set for another production shutdown from Sunday for plant maintenance that runs for one full week. "Petrol car sales are very low as the market sentiment is down ... Wedo notbelievein creating excess stock . So ,we adjust our production accordingly ," Maruti's managing executive officer (marketing and sales ) Mayank Pareek said .

We align production to market demand and observe NPDs to avoid inventory build-up ," says P Balendran , V-P at GM India . "They (NPDs) are happening frequently now ," he said , pointing to the difficult times for petrol-only models like the Spark and U-VA minis andO ptra andA veosedans

Cheers!

Auto companies like Maruti Suzuki, General Motors and Toyota cut petrol car output - The Economic Times

[souravc]

A relevant report from Business Today on the slump which gives details of production cut by most auto companies . Auto companies stop production as demand slump continues - Business Today

Auto Industry worldwide has always been plagued by over capacity, India was a notable exception - now finally we seem to have fallen in line .

In the above report , the telling comment IMO is "As per industry estimates, the total inventory of unsold petrol driven passenger vehicles of various companies in May was over 1.93 lakh units, while that of diesel vehicles was over 1.07 lakh units"

So its not a demand switch due to fuel preference but a slowdown indeed!

[man_and_machine]

Originally Posted by souravc

So its not a demand switch due to fuel preference but a slowdown indeed!

Yes, cost of capital has not come down. Inflation is not relenting, so optional purchases like Car will be always be deferred. After the budget the prices have increased. Over all, the Indian trend of bucking international cues is now seeming to fall apart.

I do not know the split up, but I assume the demand from commercial segment has drastically reduced. TATA is the point in case.

Long term investment in this sector will be put on hold, meaning cleaner, efficient cars will take time to come in.

It all depends on how the Indian growth story will hold on. If showing signs of stagnation, but it too early to decide.

What we see is still the tip of the ice berg.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by shivasuma

Maybe VW should use this opportunity to assemble more Jettas.

I think VW was facing a shortage of imported "kits" for the Jetta.

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

Would there be a stop in bookings too?

Obviously not. Dealers would bend over backward for your business (and in turn, clear up the piling inventory).

[veyron_head]

There was an today (or yesterday?) on TOI from Maruti that the waiting period of Swift is going to come down as they are building another manufacturing facility. There was no mention of the location or the facility or the capacity. I am not sure if this ad was intended to sell the piling up inventory swift.

Yet, Swift still has unreal waiting periods of more than 6 months in Bangalore

[volkman10]

Block closure for three days from tomorrow at Tata Motors.

The block closure was taken in view of the quarterly closing as we cannot pile up inventory.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/14430376.cms

[randomguy]

Originally Posted by veyron_head

There was an today (or yesterday?) on TOI from Maruti that the waiting period of Swift is going to come down as they are building another manufacturing facility. There was no mention of the location or the facility or the capacity. I am not sure if this ad was intended to sell the piling up inventory swift.

Yet, Swift still has unreal waiting periods of more than 6 months in Bangalore

That's strange. A colleague's in-laws bought a Diesel Swift (in Chennai) a few weeks ago & they waited for just 10 days.

[volkman10]

Bosch to shut plants at Jaipur, Bangalore temporarily.

The company is undertaking this step in order to adjust production to meet the demand for products and to avoid unnecessary buildup of inventory, it added.

Bosch supplies various parts, including critical engine components, to many automobile manufacturers in India

With vehicle sales continuing to dwindle due to high interest rates and petrol prices, many automobile manufacturers in India are shutting down their plants temporarily to reduce inventories.

Bosch to shut plants at Jaipur, Bangalore temporarily - The Economic Times

[download2live]

There is a slowdown. I have uncomfortable feeling that it might be a precursor to oncoming recession. Hope its not.

Manmohan should be proud that these things are happening while he is at helm.
The irony is too big to miss. Economy tanks while a Finance background guy is at helm. Or is he?

[RS_DEL]

@mods: Please move as you feel appropriate

The following news article from Reuters is quite enlightening WRT to the auto industry.

Link to the news article.

The fact that GM is having problems would be glossed over by most, given their not so glorious performance on the sales charts and not so strong market position, same for Tata Motors WRT cars. However if Maruti Suzuki is making production cutbacks then that is telling indeed.

Keeping in view the above it will be interesting to see how the members venturing out to buy new cars are being treated in terms of discounts/freebies at the new car dealerships. Anyone like to share their experiences and the deals being offered to them?

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by RS_DEL

@mods: Please move as you feel appropriate

The following news article from Reuters is quite enlightening WRT to the auto industry.

Link to the news article.

The fact that GM is having problems would be glossed over by most, given their not so glorious performance on the sales charts and not so strong market position, same for Tata Motors WRT cars. However if Maruti Suzuki is making production cutbacks then that is telling indeed.

Keeping in view the above it will be interesting to see how the members venturing out to buy new cars are being treated in terms of discounts/freebies at the new car dealerships. Anyone like to share their experiences and the deals being offered to them?

Do check the booked my car thread. Loads of discounts flying around!
I know of atleast 2 or 3 recent Skoda purchases which have involved good discounts, so if one has money and needs a car it is a good time to buy!

[mayankjha1806]

Recession are good times, it sucks out bad investments from the economy. If its a car purchase that you don't really need then most would make do with whatever they have, and hence bring down sales. On the other hand, if its a purchase that you must do, and is necessary then there are ample discounts and freebies thrown around for you to make a value-for-money purchase.

As economists say, this is the time when men get separated from boys (In economic sense)

[Safari_Sid]

Interesting article. With the newspaper full of ads on discount for new cars Maruti/Hyundai/Tata etc. there is hardly any doubt. Keeping my fingers crossed for sales report for the Month of June 2012. I hope there is no bloodbath there but lets wait and watch. Looks like the right time to buy cars if you have the moolah. But then buying a liability(car) with liquid asset just does not make sense specially if you dont need one, rather you want to splurge since there are huge discounts. But for sure its tempting

[arpanjha]

Tata motors commercial vehicles plant in Jamshedpur has been shut since thursday, today it is scheduled to open. I work as a component manufacturer for telco jamshedpur as we call it. Our schedules for both Tata Motors and Tata Cummins who make engines have hugely reduced since march 2012. Predictions are bad too, times are very tough and I dont feel there is the end of the tunnel soon enough, it may continue well after diwali too.