Close on the heels of Mercedes-Benz India announcing the resumption of operations at its Chakan facility on the outskirts of Pune, several other manufacturers have also announced the resumption of manufacturing activities. All manufacturers were forced to shut down their production activities and dealerships following the nationwide lockdown in the country. The one and a half month-long lockdown was particularly taxing on the already struggling automotive industry and manufacturers reported zero sales during the month of April.
Among luxury carmakers, BMW also resumed operations at their production facility at Chennai plant with fifty per-cent workforce with only a single shift operation on May 7. The market leader, Maruti Suzuki, was the first to resume production at its Manesar and Gurugram plants. Maruti Suzuki has also opened doors to its dealerships in green and orange zone and has started home delivery of cars as well. Car manufacturers like Hyundai, Honda and Izuzu have also resumed operations at their facilities in Chennai, Tapukara Rajasthan and SriCity Andhra Pradesh respectively. The manufacturers, while resuming production, have taken care of customer safety at their dealerships and have strictly followed the sanitization and social distancing guidelines. Manufactures like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz, BMW have made a provision of proper sanitization facilities at dealerships for the employees, customers and test-drive vehicles. Some of them have also brought their showrooms on to a digital platform to abide by the social distancing norms. As a result, customers can complete all formalities required during the purchase of the car and can avoid visiting the showroom.
Two-wheeler manufacturers have also started their production facilities. Manufacturers like TVS Motor and Royal Enfield have officially confirmed resuming their production activities. TVS Motors has already started its operation in Hosur, Mysuru and Nalagarh while Royal Enfield in its Chennai plant. All these manufacturers are running their production facilities in a single shift with 50 per cent staff only. Bajaj Auto was expected to resume its production facilities in Chakan and Aurangabad but so far there is no official statement from the company on resuming production.
Certain automotive parts and tractor manufacturers like MRF, Castrol and Mahindra have restarted operations in the respective production facilities situated in Orange and Green zones.
On a global level, manufacturers like Ducati and Ferrari have started their operations with a thorough examination of every staff member for COVID-19 symptoms.
Manufacturers have started resuming their operations and are taking full responsibility to maintain a safe workspace for everyone so that the spread of the virus can be contained and the country is not forced to deal with an extended lockdown again.