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Maruti Suzuki to work on Sundays as festive demand hits decade high
Maruti Suzuki is running seven-day production to meet soaring festive demand after record Navratri deliveries and a sharp boost from recent GST reductions.
Maruti Suzuki has moved to seven-day production schedules to meet a surge in demand during India’s festive season, as the automaker navigates one of its strongest Navratri periods in a decade.
The company delivered nearly 165,000 vehicles in the first eight days of the festival, the highest volume it has recorded for that period in ten years. September retail sales rose 27.5 percent from a year earlier, and the automaker expects total deliveries to approach 200,000 in the near term.
The recent cut in goods and services tax — to 18 percent from 28 percent on petrol, petrol-hybrid, LPG and CNG vehicles — has helped stoke demand by making cars more affordable. The shift in rates has also lifted consumer sentiment ahead of the festive season.
Even so, the company is working through a significant backlog. It logged more than 350,000 bookings last month, with roughly 250,000 orders still pending. Logistics operations began ramping up on Sept. 22, but the company expects the system to take time to fully stabilise. It aims to clear most deliveries by the end of October.
Maruti Suzuki reported total sales of 189,000 units in September, an increase of 2.7 percent from a year earlier, according to industry data. Exports were the primary growth engine, rising 52 percent to 42,204 units. Domestic sales slipped 6 percent to 147,000 units, but the strength of overseas shipments offset the decline.
The company said the combination of tax policy changes and festive demand has created unusually strong momentum, reflected in record-breaking deliveries at the start of Navratri.
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