The ongoing agitation in the north of the country over the reservation for Jats has now started to take a toll on the auto industry as well. The country’s largest automobile manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki on Saturday temporarily suspended its operations at both its plants located in Gurgaon and Manesar. The reason being that the auto major has not been able to receive supply of certain components required to assemble their products.
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Currently, the company is attempting to source the components from other suppliers but would be able to resume production only after the regular supply resumes. Both the plants produce a combined output of 5000 units a day and hence this suspension would severely impact the sales for the company.
Maruti Suzuki is already struggling to meet the demands of the Baleno that was launched in October last year and received a good response from the consumers. The move will also affect the export of the Baleno, which recently made its way to Japanese shores after being manufactured at the Manesar plant. The issue, if not solved soon, could create more problems for the company as it is due to launch its compact SUV, the Vitara Brezza. Maruti Suzuki received a significant response for the Vitara Brezza and any delay with the same may result in a negative impact on the product as well as the brand.
Other manufacturers such as Hero MotoCorp and Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) have not reported any issue at their respective plants in Haryana and production seems to be going on as usual.
The Jat reservation agitation is a currently ongoing protest by Jats across the country and more specifically in the north at places such as Haryana, seeking a reservation status of Other Backward Classes (OBC) for the community. Certain reports suggest that the situation is slowly returning to normalcy whereas other reports go on to suggest that the agitation is still in process. This agitation has also impacted the daily lives of the locals with essential services taking a hit and public transport such as buses and trains being cancelled.