Maruti Suzuki India expects that the shortage of the semiconductor chips will last for the next few quarters, leading to further increase in order backlog of certain models. The country’s largest carmaker has pending bookings stretching to 3.69 lakh units with Ertiga having the highest number of bookings, close to 94,000.
Maruti Grand Vitara and Brezza have an order backlog of around 37,000 and 61,500 units, respectively. For the Jimny and Fronx, the company has received around 22,000 and 12,000 bookings, respectively.
The automaker, due to the chip shortage, has already witnessed a production loss of close to 46,000 units in October-December period and is expecting some impact on the production in the ongoing quarter as well. “The semiconductor shortage still continues,” Maruti Suzuki India Senior Executive Officer – Marketing and Sales, Shashank Srivastava, told PTI. “It is difficult to predict exact timelines when it will become normal because the visibility is not there,” he added.
Speaking about the overall passenger vehicle (PV) industry, Srivastava noted that SUVs continue to lead with a share of 42. 6 per cent and hatchbacks account for 35 per cent. The PV industry so far this fiscal year has witnessed sales of 35.5 lakh units and is expected to end the year with 38.8 lakh units mark, the highest ever number till date.