India’s top consumer electronics, smartphone and auto companies are resuming or raising production this week more than a fortnight after they shut plants or scaled-down output for the domestic market as states ease curbs amid a decline in Covid infections. LG<\/a>, Samsung<\/a>, Godrej Appliances, Haier, Vivo, Oppo<\/a>, Bosch, Siemens, Panasonic<\/a>, Carrier Midea and others have either begun production or are preparing to do so, expecting sales to normalise in a week’s time led by pent-up demand, executives said.
With states having imposed restrictions since April as the second wave of the pandemic swept through India, some plants had to close and many saw inventory piling up.
Auto manufacturers such as Maruti Suzuki<\/a>, Mahindra, Tata Motors<\/a>, Bajaj and Hero MotoCorp<\/a> are stepping up output at factories located in western India and the National Capital Region (NCR). Those with plants in the south, such as Hyundai Motors, Royal Enfield<\/a> and Renault Nissan – which had reported manufacturing disruptions – are ramping up gradually as the workforce isn’t back at full strength due to relatively higher infection rates. Major NCR factories restarted operations in the third week of May. Part makers supplying to these companies said they are likely to increase capacities from 25-30% to over 50-60% in June.
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May was a muted month with the majority of the states under lockdown, said Lumax Industries<\/a> CMD Deepak Jain, also president of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association.
Phased Opening of Stores<\/strong>
“Factories did produce. However, with high absenteeism, the output for the month was low at about 30-40%,” Jain said. “June is expected to be volatile, with order books at about 50-60% as against the production seen in March. There is a gradual ramp-up happening now, but the production during the month will have to be calibrated based on how the unlocking progresses.”
Many states have started allowing shops to open with restricted timings or alternate day operation with the reduction in Covid cases, said Deepak Bansal, vice president, corporate planning, LG India, the country’s largest appliance manufacturer. \"The opening of stores in a phased manner will lead to good pent-up demand,\" he said.
LG will gear up production from this week after assessing demand across product categories. Panasonic has started backend and a few peripheral manufacturing operations with plans to start appliance production this week.
Godrej Appliances and Haier India restarted production on Monday. Smartphone makers such as Vivo and Oppo have resumed assembly lines, while Samsung has started domestic production again. Samsung, Oppo and Vivo didn’t respond to queries.
While companies do have stocks, they also expect strong pent-up demand since several markets were closed for almost 60 days, said Neeraj Bahl, MD of BSH Household Appliances India, which sells products under the Bosch and Siemens brands.
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