Commercial vehicle (CV) manufacturer Ashok Leyland Ltd plans to scale down production and operate plants for only 7-15 days in May and to shut down the units for the remaining part of the month, the company said in a regulatory filing on Monday.
“The operations of our plants have been scaled down and are expected to work for 7 – 15 days in May. We will continue to respond to the COVID-19 situation in the country as it unfolds,” it said in a statement.
The CV maker became the sixth vehicle manufacturer, after Hero MotoCorp, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, Maruti Suzuki India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor and MG Motor, to announce plant shutdowns amid the second wave of rising COVID-19 cases.
India continues to witness more than 3 lakh new COVID cases for 12 consecutive days as total count nears 20 million, according to the health ministry data. The second wave is expected not only to impact the demand outlook for vehicles temporarily but also delay the gradual recovery in the demand for small, medium and heavy trucks.
“The demand outlook for all our products is expected to be affected temporarily. We have carefully studied the demand situation and efforts are being made to match the demand, while realising the disruptions in the supply situation,” the company said.
