Tata Motors to accelerate maintenance shutdown amid rising stockpiles, declining sales

Tata Motors is set to advance the annual maintenance shutdown of its passenger vehicle plants due to mounting stockpiles-equivalent to up to two months of sales-amid slowing sales across its petrol, CNG and electric cars, multiple people aware of the company’s plans said. This is to align production with demand and correct the stock before the calendar year ends, they said.

Typically, auto companies take annual maintenance shutdowns in December to correct stock levels of the ongoing calendar year and make way for the new calendar year models.

Tata Motors would be the first passenger vehicle maker to pare output amid slowing sales this year, people cited above said. Other automakers are likely to take a call on paring their output post the festive season, they added. After a scorching pace of growth for three years, passenger vehicle sales in India hit the slow lane this year. Sales are estimated to have declined in September over the year-ago period, marking a third consecutive month of decline.

With the first leg of the festive season which kicked in with Onam and Ganesh Chaturthi being muted, automakers and their dealers have tempered expectations from the second leg of the season that begins on October 3 with the start of Navratri. Tata Motors’ sales decline is steeper than some of its rivals. As a result, the maker of Nexon and Safari models has lost the no 3 position in the market to arch rival Mahindra & Mahindra, both in registration and wholesales volumes in September.

Tata Motors is set to shutter its car plants in Pimpri-Chinchwad near Pune and Sanand in Gujarat for three to five days later this month or in November, coupling it with the scheduled holidays of five days for Diwali, people aware of the company’s production schedules said. With a shutdown of around 7 to 10 days (including the holidays), the Tata Group automotive flagship is looking to reduce production by 15,000 units in a phased manner by December, they said.

On an average, Tata Motors produces 42,000-45,000 passenger vehicles (PV) per month.In its sales statement released on Tuesday, Tata Motors said its total domestic PV sales declined 8% year on year to 41,063 units in September and by 6% to 129,930 units in the quarter ended last month. The monthly volumes are the lowest in 2.5 years. Its electric vehicle (EV) sales fell 23% on year to 4,680 last month and by 16% to 15,642 in the second quarter of FY25.Shailesh Chandra, managing director of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, said the overall PV industry in the second quarter of FY25 saw more than 5% decline on year in retails (Vahan registrations), blaming it on low consumer demand and seasonal factors.

In contrast, industry offtake was significantly higher than registrations in anticipation of a strong start to the festive season, resulting in a continued buildup of channel stock, he said. This was despite new model introduction, enhanced consumer benefits, and steep price cuts. Tata Motors cut prices of the EV variants of Nexon and Punch by up to ₹3 lakh.