New Delhi: The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Wednesday said it has re-opened 600 dealerships which were closed due to coronavirus-led lockdown, and has even started deliveries of the vehicles.
The auto major said it has put in place a comprehensive standard operating procedure (SoP) across its sales outlets and reinforced digital infrastructure for vehicle purchase amid COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the last few days we have been able to make 600-odd dealerships operational across the country, MSI Executive Director, Marketing and Sales Shashank Srivastava told PTI.
He said that dealers have applied for permissions to open up in states where such clearances are mandatory. The company, which has around 3,080 dealerships across 1,960 cities and towns in the country, has managed to open 474 Arena outlets, 80 Nexa dealerships and 45 commercial vehicle sales outlets.
The company has also started deliveries of cars with 55 units having already been dispatched over the last few days, Srivastava said.
When asked about the time frame of commencing operations across the company’s entire sales network, he said, ” It will depend on how soon we get approvals from respective state governments.” The company has enough stock with dealers to take care of the deliveries at the moment, he added.
Operations at the firm’s manufacturing plants remains suspended as of now. Further, MSI Managing Director and CEO Kenichi Ayukawa said, “All our dealerships have put in place steps to ensure complete safety, hygiene and sanitisation of all touchpoints”.
The steps are aimed at removing hesitancy on the part of buyers to visit the showrooms to take delivery of their vehicles.
The COVID-19 SoP designed by the company encapsulates all the facets of customer interactions. From the time a customer walks into the showroom till the final delivery of the vehicle, all processes have been scientifically studied, Srivastava said.
Besides, the company has put in place a robust digital process to help customers buy vehicles without having the need to visit the showrooms, he added.