Indian automobile manufacturing frontrunner, Maruti Suzuki, has reportedly extended its maintenance shutdown period by a month. The company has made this move in order to divert the oxygen that is consumed by two of its Haryana plants to cater to medical needs.

Apparently, this announcement from Maruti Suzuki comes just a day following a statement from senior company officials, which mentioned that the plants would run at full capacity, with no supposed plans to halt the production.

Sources reveal that the parent company, Suzuki Motor Corporation has also come up with plans to shutter its Gujarat plant to attain the same purpose. Taking this into account, the production operations at all the Suzuki factories would remain suspended in the first week of May.

Experts from Maruti Suzuki have also disclosed that the company utilizes a small amount of oxygen across its factories, while relatively larger quantities are used by the component manufacturers, as part of the car manufacturing operations. It was also revealed that the company considers it vital to use all the available oxygen for saving lives in the current situation.

In accordance with this, Maruti Suzuki decided to advance its maintenance shutdown, which was originally scheduled for June, to the 1st to 9th of May.

Other automotive companies such as Toyota Kirloskar, Hero MotoCorp, and MG Motor India have also announced the shutting down of their factories. Meanwhile, Suzuki Motorcycle India has lowered the number of its shifts from three to one for four days effective from April 28.

Tata Motors, apparently, has not revealed any insights on cutting back on its production but has rolled out a business agility strategy, through which the company aims at calibrating and matching the supplies with retail demand.

As per reports, shares from Maruti Suzuki traded 0.44% higher at ? 6,587 following the announcement of the company’s decision to shut down its plants, underperforming the Sensex which was up 1.6%.

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https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/technology/auto/maruti-suzuki-shuts-haryana-plants-to-divert-oxygen-for-medical-need-6826541.html