COVID-hit India's car major Maruti posts net loss

Source: Xinhua | 2020-07-31

India's largest car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki has posted a net loss of around 2.5 billion Indian Rupees (around 35.6 million U.S. dollars) during the first quarter (April-June) of the current financial year (April 2020-March 2021), a company source confirmed on Thursday.

The loss was mainly attributed to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

This is said to be the first time the car major has posted a net loss ever since it became a listed company 17 years ago.

According to the company's source, this was a steep decline compared to the net profit of 14.3 billion Indian Rupees (around 205 million U.S. dollars) the company made during the same quarter last year.

In a written statement, the company said that owing to the global pandemic of COVID-19, it was an unprecedented quarter in the company's history wherein a large part of the quarter had zero production and zero sales in compliance with a lockdown stipulated by the government.

Production and sales started in a very small way in the month of May. The company's first priority was the health, safety and well-being of all employees and associates across the value chain including its customers.

"Hence with carefully designed safety protocols, which went far beyond compliance levels, the production in the whole quarter was equivalent to just about two weeks' of regular working. The results have to be viewed in this context," said the company's statement.

The company sold a total of 76,599 vehicles during the said quarter, out of which sales in the domestic market stood at 67,027 units while 9,572 units were exported. During the quarter, the company registered net sales of 36.8 billion Indian Rupees (around 525 million U.S. dollars).