Maruti Suzuki Q3 net profit falls 48% to Rs 1,011 cr, but beats estimates

The carmaker said it had more than 240,000 pending customer orders at the end of the third quarter

India's top carmaker Maruti Suzuki posted a bigger-than-expected 48% drop in third-quarter net profit on Tuesday, as a global chip shortage slowed production and high raw material costs squeezed margins.

Carmakers, which closed plants or operated at reduced capacities during the height of the pandemic, have found themselves competing against the consumer electronics industry for chips which are a critical component in electronic devices.

"Production was constrained by a global shortage in the supply of electronic components because of which an estimated 90,000 units could not be produced," Maruti, majority owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, said in a statement.