The Hindu Business Line : Unrest at HM plant hits Ambassador sales

Kolkata April 17 Dealers of Hindustan Motors (HM) have stopped taking purchase orders for Ambassador cars because of the supply crunch, following the month-long labour unrest at the company's Uttarpara plant.

It may be recalled that while HM announced "suspension of work" only last week, movement of materials to and from the factory was, according to the management, blocked by a section of striking workers for the past one month. This has brought down Ambassador stocks with HM dealers to near-zero levels.

According to Mr Sanjay Tyagi, Sales Manager, Rajiv Motors, authorised dealers for HM cars in New Delhi, "Currently we don't have a single (Ambassador) car. We have ordered 50 Ambassadors but are yet to receive them.."

The blockade in materials movement has also affected Ambassador sales in Kolkata.

"Our stock position is nil. On an average, we sell nearly 100 cars a month, but in March we managed to sell only 70 cars. We are not able to meet the purchase orders due to lack of supply," said an official of Austin Distributors Ltd.

The Sales Manager of Fort Point Automotive in Mumbai said: "The strike has affected sales. We don't have a single Ambassador in our stock."

"(Ambassador) sales have obviously been affected due to blockade of ingress and egress of materials at Uttarpara. We are yet to estimate the quantum of loss," said Ms Soni Shrivastav, General Manager (Corporate Communication), CK Birla Group. According to Ms Shrivastav, there are about 300-400 cars at the Uttarpara factory waiting to be delivered to dealers.

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