Automakers are increasing production and building dealer inventory to meet customer demand as India enters the festive buying season, with manufacturers seeking to ensure vehicle availability and convert existing bookings into retail sales.

Maruti Suzuki India has 220,000 pending bookings ahead of the festive season, while Hyundai Motor India has built four to five weeks of inventory across its dealer network. Mahindra & Mahindra, meanwhile, has increased its utility vehicle and electric vehicle manufacturing capacity to 68,000 units a month to improve supply and reduce waiting periods.

Maruti Suzuki India's Senior Executive Officer, Partho Banerjee, told media sources, "At the beginning of this financial year, we had 12 days of stock. The current bookings pendency is 220,000, which translates to 16 days of stock before the festive season. We have already commissioned two new production lines, adding 500,000 capacity in total. Production is being ramped up gradually, and we expect these lines to fully stabilise by year-end."

Banerjee said the company is calibrating production and supplies across models to prevent waiting periods from rising disproportionately for individual vehicles during the festive period.

"For Maruti Suzuki, our supply chain and production teams are putting in efforts and trying to meet the festival demand. However, due to supply constraints, we may introduce special schemes for our pending booking customers," Banerjee said.

Tarun Garg, MD & CEO of Hyundai Motor India, said, "The festive season continues to be a key growth driver for the Indian automotive industry, and we have been proactively preparing our operations, dealer network and supply chain to effectively cater to customer demand across the country."

"Over the past few months, we have strengthened dealer inventory, optimised logistics and enhanced product availability across the Hyundai Motor India Limited network to support timely deliveries and a seamless customer experience," he added.

Garg said Hyundai Motor India has built dealer inventory ahead of the festive season, with inventory levels of four to five weeks across its network, to cater to anticipated festive demand.

"Our focus remains on maintaining the right balance between fulfilling existing customer bookings and ensuring adequate stock availability at dealerships to maximise retail conversions during the festive period," he added.

Nalinikanth Gollagunta, CEO, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra, said demand remains consistent across its portfolio.

"Over the first half of the year, we scaled up our SUV and EV manufacturing capacity to 68,000 units per month to cater to growing customer demand. This has helped us improve supply-side responsiveness and reduce waiting periods across the portfolio, even as bookings have remained steady. Given the current consumer demand and changes on the supply side, the company expects to convert festive demand into retail sales," Gollagunta observed.

The festive season is a period of increased activity for India's passenger vehicle industry, with manufacturers and dealers seeking to maximise deliveries during the period spanning Navratri, Dussehra, Dhanteras and Diwali.

With manufacturers increasing production and building inventory, the focus this festive season is on ensuring that supply keeps pace with bookings and that vehicles are available to customers when they are ready to make their purchases.