MUMBAI: Carmakers in India are cutting production and shuttering their factories for longer periods as they stare at the worst festive season in recent times. The nation’s top 10 carmakers will likely cut output by 70,000 to 85,000 vehicles in November, almost 25% of average monthly production as they seek to whittle down the high inventories lying with dealers, top executives said.Maruti Suzuki, Toyota Kirloskar and Ford India plants will be closed for over 10 days this month on account of Diwali and other weekly holidays, people aware of their plans said. Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Honda Cars India and Renault Nissan are said to have shut their plants for five to six days during the Diwali week, while Volkswagen India has scheduled a production halt from November 2 to 19.Keeping plants shut for a few days in the festive season is a normal practice but this year the shutdowns are longer as the carmakers aim to reduce inventories.Emails sent to Maruti Suzuki and Volkswagen India did not elicit any response. Spokespersons at Tata Motors, Mahindra and Honda said the shutdowns were planned in conjunction with the Diwali holidays. A person close to Maruti Suzuki said the closure of plants by the maker of Alto and Wagon R cars had been scheduled.While none of the spokespersons cited a demand slowdown as a major reason for the shutdowns, many executives of these companies said the closures would bring down high inventories. The average dealer inventory for leading automakers climbed to 50-55 days as compared with 30-35 days earlier. Demand evaporated over the past two months on account of record fuel prices, increasing interest rates, a spike in insurance costs and the absence of product launches.The slackening of demand was evident in retail sales, which dropped 15-35% for two-wheelers in the week before Diwali and fell 10-25% for cars, according to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations. Automakers are trying to push sales by enticing buyers with attractive offers.Consequently, their average discount level has increased and this is likely to adversely affect their margins this quarter. The average discount per car offered by Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest carmaker, increased to Rs 18,750 in the quarter ended September, the highest level in six quarters.Bajaj Auto has said promotional schemes such as free five-year insurance and free fiveyear warranty will continue in the festive season and their impact on margins in this quarter will depend on volumes. Discounts levels are seasonally high in the December quarter and they could be further accentuated if demand remains soft.Given the variance between sales and projected demand, automakers are reducing annual volume forecasts by 3-5%. According to Gaurav Vangaal, a senior analyst at IHS Automotive, the rising cost of ownership has curtailed demand for cars and there could be a 3-5% reduction in annual forecasted sales of the major automakers.Nomura cut its sales estimate for Maruti Suzuki to 1.92 million vehicles from 2.01million after the September quarter results. With tepid sales of two-wheelers in the festive reason, Bajaj Auto revised its growth estimate to 8-10% from 10-12% earlier.