New Delhi: The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Wednesday said it has re-opened 600 dealerships which were closed due to coronavirus-led lockdown, and has even started deliveries of the vehicles.
The auto major said it has put in place a comprehensive standard operating procedure (SoP) across its sales outlets and reinforced digital infrastructure for vehicle purchase amid COVID-19 pandemic.
"Over the last few days we have been able to make 600-odd dealerships operational across the country," MSI Executive Director, Marketing and Sales Shashank Srivastava told PTI.
He said that dealers have applied for permissions to open up in states where such clearances are mandatory.
The company, which has around 3,080 dealerships across 1,960 cities and towns in the country, has managed to open 474 Arena outlets, 80 Nexa dealerships and 45 commercial vehicle sales outlets.
The company has also started deliveries of cars with 55 units having already been dispatched over the last few days, Srivastava said.
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When asked about the timeframe of commencing operations across the company's entire sales network, he said, "It will depend on how soon we get approvals from respective state governments."
The company has enough stock with dealers to take care of the deliveries at the moment, he added.
Operations at the firm's manufacturing plants remains suspended as of now.
Further, MSI Managing Director and CEO Kenichi Ayukawa said, "All our dealerships have put in place steps to ensure complete safety, hygiene and sanitisation of all touchpoints".
The steps are aimed at removing hesitancy on the part of buyers to visit the showrooms to take delivery of their vehicles.
The COVID-19 SoP designed by the company encapsulates all the facets of customer interactions.
From the time a customer walks into the showroom till the final delivery of the vehicle, all processes have been scientifically studied, Srivastava said.
Besides, the company has put in place a robust digital process to help customers buy vehicles without having the need to visit the showrooms, he added.
The auto major said it now offers the door-step delivery of cars. Besides, the dealerships will carry out complete sterilisation of the test-drive vehicles.
Maruti Suzuki to resume production at Manesar plant from May 12
Maruti Suzuki India will restart production of vehicles at its Manesar plant in Haryana on May 12.
In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, the automobile major said that all operations would be carried out in accordance with the government regulations.
"Maruti Suzuki India Limited would re-start production of vehicles at its Manesar plant from the 12th of May 2020. All activities would be carried out strictly in accordance with the government regulations and guidelines and observing the company's own concern for the highest standards of safety," it said.
On April 22, the local administration had given its approval to start production at the unit with a limited number of employees.
Around 250 dealerships resume operations across country: Hyundai
Hyundai Motor India on Wednesday said around 250 company dealerships have resumed operations across various states.
The company, which is the country's second largest carmaker, said over 250 workshops have also commenced work and vehicle deliveries have also begun.
"A start has been made and going forward let us see how things progress. We are taking all kind of precautions at dealerships and hope that business will soon start coming to normal," Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) Director (sales and marketing) Tarun Garg told PTI.
The dealerships have opened in Northeast, Kerala, Karnataka and Uttarakhand, among other states, he added.
HMIL currently has around 500 dealerships across the country.
"Deliveries have also started since last two days. There are lot of pending bookings which the dealers would be able to clear from their stock," Garg said.
The company is yet to start rolling out vehicles from its Chennai plant though it has commenced preparations to do so.
(PTI Report)
