Maruti Suzuki Says Production "Normal" Amid West Asia war; Flags Cost Pressure, Price Hikes Likely

India’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki said its operations are running normally despite the ongoing war in West Asia, but warned of rising cost pressures due to higher commodity prices and longer shipping routes. The company may soon review vehicle prices to protect margins.

“So far, our operations are running perfectly normal… our production is totally as per plan,” the company’s management told reporters when asked about the impact of the war in West Asia.

The automaker, however, acknowledged that the conflict has begun to push up input and logistics costs. “There is a pressure on the cost part of it due to the commodity prices and due to the Gulf War,” the management said.

The company said it has so far chosen to absorb the additional costs to support customers, but indicated that the current approach may not continue for long. There are around 1.9 lakh pending booking.

“We need to take a call very soon because commodity prices have increased since December… very soon we are going to review that we need to increase the prices and pass it on to our customers,” the management said.

The company highlighted that shipping expenses have increased as vessels take longer routes due to the geopolitical situation in the region.

“Cost of shipping… because the routes are longer, there will be some such cost which we will have to take in our stride,” the management said.

Despite these challenges, the automaker said its diversified export presence helps reduce risks from disruptions in any single region.

“We are very fortunate that we are diversified exports across 100 countries… we are fairly diversified and fairly de-risked,” the management said, while adding that some impact from global disruptions cannot be fully avoided. “To some extent, you cannot go totally unaffected.”

The comments come at a time when the industry and the company have reported record domestic sales for the financial year 2026. Industry dispatches reached around 4.7 million units in the financial year, up 8.3% from a year earlier. Maruti Suzuki’s domestic sales grew 3.5% to 1.82 million units during the same period.

Production levels have also remained strong. Maruti Suzuki’s output rose to 2.32 lakh units in March, up 19% despite the ongoing conflict in West Asia.

Industry sources said supply chain disruptions linked to the conflict have not yet significantly affected vehicle manufacturers. They noted that gas shortages are currently impacting mostly smaller Tier-3 and Tier-4 component suppliers, with the effect on automakers likely to emerge only if the situation begins to affect larger Tier-1 and Tier-2 suppliers.

For now, production schedules across the industry remain largely intact, with companies continuing to dispatch vehicles to dealers to meet demand.

On the demand side, Maruti Suzuki’s management said it continues to see supportive factors in the coming months, including the impact of earlier GST cuts, and simplified income tax structure and interest rate reductions. However, rising costs remain the key concern for the company going forward.