COVID-19 impact: Maruti Suzuki registers zero domestic sales in April due to lockdown

New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India on Friday reported zero monthly domestic sales for the first time ever in April. This was because in compliance with the Government orders all production facilities were closed,” India’s largest carmaker said in a statement.

Auto manufacturers are expected to report zero production figures as well on account of all plants and manufacturing facilities being shut for most of April. However, the government did allow Maruti to partially resume operations in Gujarat and Maruti Suzuki managed to export 632 vehicles from the Mundra port.

The auto major had last month got permission from the Gurugram district administration to restart its Manesar plant on a single shift basis, while fixing the total number of employees at plant at 4,696. The company had then decided to resume operations only when it can maintain continuous production and sell vehicles.

The company had suspended sales and production March 22 onwards which is when Janta curfew was implemented nationwide. Maruti Suzuki saw a decline of 47 per cent in overall sales in March 2020 selling 83,792 units as compared to the 158,076 units sold in the same month in 2019.