Indian automakers say China coronavirus outbreak hitting parts supply

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian automakers Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (M&M) and Tata Motors said on Sunday their supply of parts from China had been hit, as fallout from the coronavirus outbreak mounts.

"Going into March, we anticipate the challenge on parts-supply to continue for another few weeks, before we get back to normalcy," Veejay Ram Nakra, Chief of Sales and Marketing at M&M's automotive division said in a press release.

Tata Motors said in a press release that it, too, had been hit by supply disruptions due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, and was working to mitigate the situation.

Along with Maruti Suzuki - India's biggest carmaker - both companies on Sunday reported a decline in sales in February, compared with a year ago.

M&M said its domestic sales had fallen by 42%, while Tata Motors reported a drop of 34%. Maruti Suzuki said its total domestic sales were down by 1.6% in February from a year ago.

(Reporting by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Mark Potter)