On Friday, Indian automakers announced a strong increase in yearly sales for fiscal year 2022, but cautioned of future risks from global supply chain disruptions.

Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest carmaker, reported a 13 per cent increase in sales to 1.65 million units in the fiscal year ended March 31, the first increase in two years. “The supply situation of electronic components continues to be unpredictable,” the business cautioned.

According to Maruti, this could have “some influence” on manufacturing volume in the current fiscal year. Suzuki Motor Corp. of Japan owns the majority of Maruti, which sells one out of every two cars in India.

Over the last year, automakers throughout the world have been forced to make significant production cuts due to supply chain disruptions and growing consumer electronics demand, which has resulted in a severe scarcity of semiconductors. Car customers have had to wait a long time as a result of this.

According to the Indian ratings agency ICRA, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is projected to exacerbate the problem because both nations contribute raw materials for chip manufacturing.

“The impact of the crisis in the form of higher fuel and commodity prices also poses a risk to (automobile) demand prospects, in case it materialises into a long drawn out war,” ICRA said.

Tata Motors, India’s largest electric carmaker, posted its highest-ever yearly passenger vehicle sales, increasing 67 percent from a year ago to 370,372 units. Despite “two waves of Covid, semi-conductor crises, and rapid increase in material prices,” the company claimed in a statement that its electric car sales increased nearly fourfold to 19,000 units.

“Going forward, the semiconductor situation remains uncertain. We will continue to monitor the evolving situation closely,” said Shailesh Chandra, managing director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility.

(Adapted from Business-Standard.com)

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