Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest car manufacturer, was the third highest gainer on the BSE Sensex on Monday, the first day of trade after the company reported an increase in production for the first time in 10 months. The company’s shares closed the day at Rs 6,997.25 each, 1.7% higher since Friday.
On Friday, the company said its total production across segments in November had increased 4.3% on year to 1,41,834 units. Output had been declining for nine months in a row due to a slump in demand. The carmaker’s output had declined 20.7% in October to 1,19,337 units and 17.5% in September to 1,32,199 units.
The company also saw its consolidated net profit decline as much as 39% in the July-September quarter, to Rs 1,358.60 crore. With the entire automobile sector struggling, Maruti Suzuki had even shut down operations at its plants in Gurugram and Manesar in Haryana on September 7 and September 9.
The automobile industry has been caught in the midst of a downturn that started several months back. It is one of the worst slowdowns to have disrupted the industry since the collection of data of vehicle sales started in 1997. Passenger vehicle sales fell for the 11th straight month in September, registering a 23.7% decline, before increasing marginally in October.
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