Auto slowdown: Ashok Leyland declares non-working days across units in Sept

International News

Ashok Leyland has announced non-working days across its plants for the month of September, due to the continued weak demand for its products.
The company's Pantnagar plant will have as many as 18 non-working days in September, while the Ennore unit would have 16.
The Alwar and Bhandara plants would have 10 non-working days each, while Hosur 1 and 2 and CPPs will have five such days.
Ashok Leyland has been adjusting producion the past few months due to continuing sluggishness and contraction in the commercial vehicle market.
The company reported a 70 per cent drop in M&HCV truck sales in the domestic market in August to 3,336 units from 11,135 units, a year ago. Total sales of M&HCVs, including buses, were down 63 per cent to 4,585 units from 12,420 units in the previous year.
Light commercial vehicle sales fell 12 per cent to 3,711 units in August from 4208 units a year ago. Total vehicle sales in all these categories declined 50 per cent to 8,296 units from 16,628 units last August.
Domestic sales and exports of M&HCV trucks fell 70 per cent to 3,550 units from 11,717 units a year ago. However sales of M&HCV buses rose 25 per cent to 1,799 units from 1,441 units last year. LCV sales dropped eight per cent to 3,882 units from 4,228 units a year ago.

 Total vehicles sales -- domestic and exports -- were down 47 per cent to 9,231 units this August, from 17,386 units in August 2018.

GST rate cut must to revive auto demand, says M&M MD Pawan Goenka

Current Affairs

Mahindra & Mahindra’s Managing Director (MD) Pawan Goenka said on Thursday automakers had taken every step to revive consumer sentiment, but only a goods and services tax (GST) rate cut would boost demand. “I think the industry has done whatever it could. An intervention from the government can only revive the demand,” he said, adding: “It’s not good to ask for a cut in GST rate, but we are now in a situation where only that can help us.”
M&M has decided to defer capacity expenditure by at least 15-20 per cent in light of the slowdown. A lending crisis among the country’s shadow banks, which fund nearly 55-60 per cent of commercial vehicles and 30 per cent of passenger cars, has led to automakers, including M&M, Maruti Suzuki India, and Tata Motors, to either cut production or temporarily close plants.
Goenka said things could become worse if the expected festive season demand doesn’t pick up in the next 10 days. “Right now, we are not even thinking in terms of year, we are thinking what would happen in the next ten days and if it remains subdued, I am afraid manpower has to be rationalised to align with capacity cut,” he said, when asked about if there would be further job loss.
M&M has retrenched about 1,500 temporary workers since April 1. “No one wants to cut jobs, but there are no other options in unprecedented times,” he said.

 Auto sales in India witnessed its sharpest decline in nearly 19 years in July, dropping 18.71 per cent, rendering almost 15,000 workers jobless over the past three months, Siam reported earlier this month. However, Goenka was enthusiastic about the future of electric vehicle and said that the company has recongnised electric and not hybrid as the future of mobility....Read More