Suzuki Motor Chairman Osamu Suzuki visited Maruti’s troubled Manesar car factory on Monday in a “morale boosting exercise”. He also went to the Suzuki Powertrain (engine) plant next door, though the planned vendor meet did not take place.
The visit comes despite last week’s rumours that the Suzuki chief would give the same factory a miss, in favour of Gujarat where Maruti’s newest facility is expected to come up by 2015-16.
“He took a walk around the shop floor at Manesar and then saw the upcoming Plant C. He also personally met the injured officials who had joined back work,” sources close to the development told
The Manesar facility has two operating plants, while the third ‘Plant C’ is slated to start production by September next year.
Osamu Suzuki is on a week-long tour of India ending with the Maruti AGM on Tuesday. Previously, he had visited the Gurgaon plant, and also met both Haryana and Gujarat Chief Ministers.
The visit by Maruti’s top boss to Manesar is seen as a crucial move to encourage both workers and supervisors towards better industrial relations. The Manesar plant resumed operations on August 21, after being closed on July 18 after violence claimed a life of an official and injured 96 others.
The carmaker is estimated to have lost about Rs 1,400 crore due to production halt of popular cars such as the Swift and Dzire. Till now, 500 permanent workers have been dismissed by Maruti citing involvement in the clash.