Maruti Suzuki advances plant shutdown to divert oxygen for medical needs

Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest carmaker, has announced that it will shut down its manufacturing facilities starting May 1, 2021.

According to a statement issued by the company, the two facilities, located in Gurugram and Manesar and Suzuki’s factory in Gujarat, will be shut from May 1-9.

The shut down happens bi-annually for maintenance. However, this time it has been advanced to May instead of June as the company looks to support the government in this hour of crisis by diverting oxygen to save lives.

“As part of the car manufacturing process, Maruti Suzuki uses a small amount of oxygen in its factories while relatively much larger quantities are used by the manufacturers of components. In the current situation, we believe that all available oxygen should be used to save lives,” it said in a statement.

Oxygen crisis

At a time of this precarious situation that India finds itself in, with recurring shortages of life-saving supplies in several states, and left many gasping for oxygen, Maruti Suzuki has decided to advance its bi-annual plant maintenance and carry it out during the full plant shutdown, when no new vehicles will be produced.

Maruti Suzuki has a total production capacity of seven lakh units per annum at its Gurugram plant. Its popular models -Wagon R, Ertiga and Brezza are produced from this plant.

With an annual production capacity of 8.8 lakh units, the Manesar facility in Haryana is bigger, and produces models such as the Alto, Dzire, Swift, Ciaz and Celerio.

The Suzuki plant in Gujarat has an annual production capacity of 7.5 lakh units, and rolls out the Baleno, Toyota Glanza and the Dzire.

In all, the three plants give Maruti Suzuki a total annual production capacity of 22.5 lakh vehicles.