Coronavirus outbreak affects auto parts supply in India

NEW DELHI: Coronavirus outbreak and lockdown of several cities in China has affected the supply of some auto components in India, which could hit the production by around 10 per cent in February, Hero MotoCorp said on Friday. 

“The ongoing issue of Coronavirus (Covid-19) in China has affected the supply of some components to our manufacturing facilities in India. This is likely to impact our planned production by around 10 per cent for the month of February,” said the country’s largest two-wheeler. With this, the company becomes the first major automaker to admit the impact of Coronavirus on the domestic auto industry.

Any further impact on its production will depend on the situation in China. “We continue to track the developments and keep evaluating our options,” it said. The company said the wholesale dispatches of its vehicles to dealers during the month remain unaffected. Earlier this week, rating agency Fitch had said it expects vehicle production in India to contract by 8.3 per cent in 2020 as the auto sector faces increasing risk of a supply shortage due to outbreak.