Maruti Announces "No-Production Days" In Haryana Plants Amid Auto Crisis: 10 Points

India's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki on Wednesday announced two "no production days" in its Haryana plants this month amid a crippling auto sector slowdown. The passenger car manufacturing operations at its Gurugram and Manesar plants will be shut for two days, on Saturday and Monday, the carmaker said in a regulatory filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The "no production days" by Maruti Suzuki underscore a sharp, prolonged slump in sales and lakhs of job cuts in the country's auto sector.

Here are 10 things to know about Maruti Suzuki and the auto sector crisis:

1. Maruti Suzuki India reported a 35.86 per cent decline in its total sales in the domestic market last month.
2. Maruti Suzuki produces about one in two of the passenger vehicles sold in the country.
3. Its total passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market fell 36.14 per cent to 93,173 vehicles in August.
4. The country's auto industry is going through one of its worst slowdowns in nearly a decade, with vehicle sales falling rapidly and little sign of a revival anytime soon.
5. India's automotive industry is the fourth largest in the world, employing more than 35 million people, directly and indirectly, and accounting for nearly half of the country's manufacturing output.
6. Nationwide, according to industry estimates, automakers, component manufacturers and dealers have laid off about 3,50,000 workers since the start of the year, in response to plunging car sales. 
7. Last month, Maruti Suzuki said it had not renewed the contracts of 3,000 temporary employees, as it battled rising inventory amid a slowdown in demand.
8. In July, domestic passenger vehicle sales in the country plunged 30.98 per cent in their worst fall since December 2000, data from industry body SIAM or Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers showed.
9. Maruti Suzuki shares fell as much as 3.72 per cent during the session to Rs.5,824.50 apiece on the BSE.
10. At 1:07 pm, Maruti Suzuki shares traded 2.63 per cent lower at Rs. 5,890.45 apiece on the BSE, underperforming the benchmark Sensex index which was up 0.25 per cent.