MUMBAI :

The fallout of Coronavirus, especially in the world of business, is being felt across countries. While sectors such as airlines and hospitality are bracing themselves for huge financial setbacks in the days to come, the auto industry could also be massively impacted. Considering the Geneva Motor Show was cancelled earlier this month and now as the New York Auto Show, (scheduled to begin next month) stands postponed to August 2020, due to the pandemic, it seems like it is going to take some time before it is business as usual for the car manufacturers again.

Companies in the United States such as Ford, GM (General Motors) and FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) have already shut down their manufacturing operations as a precautionary measure to keep their employees safe. In Europe, the PSA Group and Volkswagen AG, too have shut down their factories in Italy and Spain, the two countries which have reported the highest and the second highest number of Coronavirus patients.

The Indian auto industry which has been monitoring the situation closely hasn’t been far behind in taking the necessary precautions. Most auto companies have been thoughtful and are playing a big role in containment efforts so that their workforce remains safe and healthy.

At Tata Motors, Guenter Butschek, CEO & Managing Director, Tata Motors, sent out an articulate message where he called the current situation “trying times for all of us.” Besides urging everybody to “stay vigilant” and “follow advisories, in order to do our bit in helping to curb the spread of the disease,” he also urged people to “practice self-quarantine and social distancing” especially if they had “traveled recently from any of the affected countries or had come in contact with anybody who had.” 

Acknowledging that Maharashtra has been most impacted, and recognizing that they had a “complex situation at hand” with “a large part of their workforce operating in plants and Research Engineering Center whose work cannot be remotely done,” he did state that they had “people working onsite with a heightened degree of personal hygiene and safety.” Besides ensuring strict protocol across all their sites, he also said that ‘Work From Home’ for had been implemented for all office-based staff. 

Tata Motors have decided to scale down their operations at the Pune site to get to skeletal operations by the end of Monday, March 23, 2020. They plan to be ready for plant closure by end of Tuesday, March 24, 2020, should the situation demand it.

Mahindra and Mahindra Limited, also announced “proactive, preventive and pre-emptive measures” for their offices and manufacturing locations across India. Besides ‘Work From Home’ for all their offices, they have suspended manufacturing operations at their Nagpur Plant with immediate effect and Chakan (Pune) and Kandivali (Mumbai) from tonight. It must also be noted that all their plants remained closed on, Sunday, March 22, 2020 according to the Government’s directive. They said that they had been monitoring the situation and that their company was prepared to take swift and appropriate action vis-a-vis their other plants in Maharashtra and across the nation if the situation changed.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) too has taken comprehensive actions necessary to prevent the spread of Coronavirus, based on their own guidelines and standards of care to safeguard their employees’ health and wellbeing. From ensuring that its regional SBUs (Strategic Business Units) in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore “Work From Home,” so that there is minimal business impact, they have also decided to temporarily halt production in its plant in Bidadi, Karnataka, until further Government notice.

Renault India too has temporarily suspended production at its Alliance manufacturing facility, Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd. (RNAIPL) in Chennai. “The health, safety and well-being of all Renault employees, dealers and other partners, their families and community at large is of utmost priority. In view of the escalating COVID-19 situation and to help prevent spread of the virus, production has been temporarily suspended at our Alliance Plant. We will await further notifications from the state government to resume operations,” said Venkatram Mamillapalle, Country CEO & Managing Director, Renault India Operations. All of Renault India’s employees in their Corporate and Regional offices in Chennai, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Kolkata and Pune will work from home. 

Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) also has decided to temporarily suspend production operations at both its manufacturing plants in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh and Tapukara, Rajasthan from 23rd March 23, 2020 until 31st March 23, 2020. HCIL Associates working in corporate offices, including zonal and regional locations would work from home, except those involved in running essential services requiring physical presence or minimal staffing for a few critical activities, while abiding by government regulations. The company leadership says that the “current intention is to restart production from 1st April, 2020,” but a lot depends on “advice from the Government, health authorities and market and supply conditions.” HCIL has also asked all their dealerships across India to implement mandatory protocol while interacting with customers for the prevention of the virus spread.

Mr. Gaku Nakanishi, President & CEO, Honda Cars India said, “In these trying times, health, safety, and well-being of our associates, their families, and community at large is of utmost importance. We stand by them during this tough phase and urge everyone to take all possible measures to prevent COVID-19 from spreading further. Social distancing is the need of the hour. We can overcome the pandemic if we collectively show restraint, resolution, and responsibility.”

Hyundai Motor India, in its official statement said “Hyundai Motor India Ltd will be taking the preventive-counter measure of suspending its manufacturing operations at Chennai facility from Monday, March 23, 2020, till further notice to stop the spread of Coronavirus (Covid-19) – a global pandemic.”

Amongst the two-wheeler manufacturers, TVS Motor Company, also decided to halt all manufacturing operations at its plants in India and Indonesia until further notice and has asked all relevant employees who fall into the ‘Work From Home’ category to work from home. Besides, the company has not only assured employees that it will protect jobs and salaries in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic but also assured that, they would work closely with their dealers and suppliers and extend all support to them in the face of this unexpected difficulty.

Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt. Ltd (SMIPL), the two-wheeler subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan, in keeping with the precautionary measures and in line with the Haryana Government’s directive, suspended its production at its manufacturing plant at Kherki Dhaula, Gurgaon, until further notice. SMIPL Managing Director, Mr. Koichiro Hirao said, “While the Company has taken all measures to ensure the well-being of its employees at the workplace, we have announced a `Work from Home’ advisory to our employees and associates who are not involved with maintaining essential services. The first and the foremost priority of the company is to ensure the health and safety of its employees and all stakeholders and we are determined to take all possible steps in that direction”.

While not every vehicle manufacturer has halted production of their vehicles they have ensured that they are doing their best to take all kinds of precautions to keep Cornoavirus at bay. 

Production at MG Motor’s Halol plant in Gujarat hasn’t been halted however, they have started a unique “Disinfect and Deliver” initiative which ensures car deliveries and test drives for customers, at their homes, happen under a completely sanitised process. Besides, staff at their dealerships also takes necessary steps to ensure that the service workshops and showrooms are completely sanitised. From swabbing of all test and delivery vehicles with disinfectants before delivery at customers’ residences, the company is also taking necessary preventive measures to ensure a safe environment for dealership employees in order to ensure their health and well-being.

Speaking on the announcement, Gaurav Gupta, Chief Commercial Officer, MG Motor India said, “At MG Motor India, it’s a human thing to look out for each other. As a responsible organisation, we are committed towards the safety and health of our customers, dealer partners, dealer staff and employees. In times like these, ensuring the well-being of people that we care about becomes paramount. Safety being our topmost priority, through the Disinfect and Deliver Program our focus is to sanitise throughout the value chain.”

Meanwhile, Triumph Motorcycles India announced that due to Coronavirus, they too have decided to postpone the planned digital launch of the new Street Triple RS and that the new date would be announced after March 31st, 2020. 

About the impact that the halting of production will have on the economy, Gaurav Vangaal, Associate Director, IHSMarkit Automotive says, “This will definitely impact the economy. The problem is to resume production because right now, everybody is waiting for the government’s directive and there really is no certainty as to when that will happen next. Besides the dryness in the inventory pipeline that was already there thanks to the BS-IV to BS-VI transition, this sudden disruption is bound to hamper the economy because things are uncertain now thanks to the sudden Covid-19 disruption. “While ramping up production is not difficult in India,” Vangaal says that “the first challenge will be to resume the domestic supply chain because the state borders are closed and trucks are stalled at state borders. Besides, even employees have to be confident enough to resume work after the Covid-19 scare blows over. Afterall, even China didn’t resume manufacturing with 100% production,” says Vangaal.