India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki on Tuesday resumed operations at its Manesar plant in Haryana after about 50 days of closure due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown.

The company has initiated the work on a single shift basis.

Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) is the latest carmaker to restart operations in the third phase of the nationwide lockdown which began on May 4 and will last till May 17.

Shares of auto companies were trading with up to 19 per cent cut on the NSE on Thursday as panic selling continued amid growing fears of economic dislocation due to pandemic Coronavirus (Covid-19).

Nifty Auto index hit a six-year low today. At 10:33 am, the index was trading 7.5 per cent lower at 5,102 levels with 14 out of 15 components declining. In comparison, the benchmark Nifty50 index was hovering around 8,000 levels, down 466 points or 5.5 per cent.

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India cut production by 5.38 per cent in February at 1,40,933 units, according to a regulatory filing by the company. Maruti Suzuki India had produced a total of 1,48,959 units in the same month last year.

Total passenger vehicle production stood at 1,40,370 units last month as against 1,47,550 units in February 2019, a decline of 4.87 per cent, it added.

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India on Monday launched the petrol version of its popular compact SUV Vitara Brezza priced between Rs 7.34 lakh and Rs 11.4 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The BS-VI petrol Vitara Brezza is powered by 1.5 litre K-series engine with 5-speed manual and automatic transmission options with smart hybrid, the company said in a statement.

Shares of Amara Raja Batteries rallied 6 per cent to Rs 791 on the BSE on Monday after the company reported a good operational performance in December quarter (Q3FY20). The stock of the auto ancillary company was quoting close to its 52-week high level of Rs 814, touched on Thursday, January 27, 2020.

The company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) margins expanded 130 basis points (bps) year-on-year (YoY) to 16.2 per cent, driven by lower raw material costs and impacted by higher-than-expected other costs.

Maruti Suzuki India ended 2019 with a drop of 12.3 per cent in its annual sales. The fall, the steepest in almost a decade, came on the back of poor economic growth and a slowdown in overall consumption. India’s economy grew at an anaemic 4.5 per cent in the September quarter, the lowest in five years.

Entering 2020, Maruti is optimistic, even as it remains cautious of the disruptions expected in the next couple of months, ahead of the implementation of BS-VI and high cost of ownership, said a top executive of the company.

Shares of automobile companies gained on Monday after Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) increased its production in November. At 10:30 AM, the S&P BSE Auto index climbed 1.5 per cent as compared to a flat benchmark S&P BSE Sensex and was the top gainer among BSE sectoral indices.

Among individual stocks, Maruti Suzuki India, Tata Motors, and Motherson Sumi rose over 2 per cent each. Eicher Motors, Ashok Leyland, Mahindra & Mahindra, TVS Motor, Hero MotoCorp were all up in the range of 1-2 per cent, while Bajaj-Auto was also trading higher.

Even as automobile sales have hit a record low, the country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, on Tuesday announced a price hike across models from January. Others are likely to follow suit as they gear up to liquidate the stock ahead of rolling out new models in 2020.

Rising input cost, along with the transition of auto firms from BSIV to the more expensive BSVI models, has prompted the industry to hike prices, analysts pointed out.

The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India on Tuesday said it will increase prices of its vehicles from January to offset rising input costs.

Over the past year, the cost of company's vehicles has been impacted adversely due to increase in various input costs, Maruti Suzuki India said in a regulatory filing.

Suzuki Motor Corp said it was no longer gung-ho about India's auto market, the world's fourth-largest, where it has seen relentless growth in the past seven years. And the parent of the country's biggest car maker is not alone.

The Japanese automaker issued the warning after it reported a slump in quarterly profit this week on tumbling sales at its Indian unit, Maruti Suzuki, which accounts for half the number of cars sold in India.

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