Maruti Suzuki India is tweaking the production of variants to work around the current semi-conductor chip crisis.

Marketing director Shashank Srivastava said, “Different variants require different series of chips. There is a shortage across all the series but certain series are available at certain times. We are making do with whatever is available.”

The level of electronics goes up with the more luxurious variants with higher series chips in the infotainment system, digital speedometer display and GPS systems.

Srivastava claims that Maruti is least affected because of its large portfolio. “We are altering our production pattern according to the chip supply. So, customers can take their pick. The Dzire has L and V variants. We are tweaking production of these two variants according to supply of chips.”.

Ertiga has a waiting period of five to six weeks, while for the Brezza is four to six weeks.

While both Maruti and Hyundai have a wider product portfolio, enabling its customers to opt for ones in production, companies with smaller portfolios like Nissan Magnite has a longer waiting period.

Companies such as Ford, Mahindra and Ashok Leyland have raised flags over the short supply and indicated that it could impact the production in the coming months.

The car industry is likely to see an impact by way of constraints in manufacturing new vehicles. Auto industry expects the issue to stay till the first half of 2021.

Mahindra & Mahindra has already indicated that it would push the new product launches beyond Q1 of next fiscal due to the semiconductor shortage.

The shortage of semiconductor chips was sparked by the global pandemic as countries went into a lockdown and auto companies shut factories. As the need for the chips dwindled in the auto segment, chip makers diverted their supplies to other sectors, including mobile phones and FMCGs. Now that the sector has bounced back to production, demand for chips has soared but the supply chain remains disrupted.