One striking worker at the Manesar plant, Satyawan, a 24-year-old who has been working at Maruti for five years and uses only one name, acknowledged that good factory jobs were few and far between. “Unemployment is increasing by the day so we won’t get a job, even if we look for one,” he said.

A company spokesman, Puneet Dhawan, said the company was not negotiating with the workers, who he said had seized “effective control” of the plant. He accused the workers of breaking furniture and damaging equipment at the plant.

“Negotiations can happen only when there is an environment for that,” Mr. Dhawan said by telephone. “Right now, we are looking at a mob of people who are going on a rampage.”

Workers at some Maruti Suzuki parts suppliers, a Suzuki engine factory and a Suzuki motorcycle factory also went on strike Friday, but some production has since resumed at those factories.

The Manesar auto plant, which began operations in 2007, has been the site of several disputes between managers and workers since July. The crux of the disagreement is whether workers there can form a new union, rather than join a union that also represents workers at Maruti Suzuki’s older plants in nearby Gurgaon. The Manesar union workers contend that the older plants’ unions are too compliant with management.

The strike could have serious ramifications for the company. The lead-up to the Indian festival of Diwali, which is on Oct. 26 this year, accounts for a large chunk of the sales at Indian car companies because many Hindus consider it auspicious to buy new cars and other big-ticket items during the holiday period.

And sales for all carmakers had already been declining in recent months because the Indian central bank has been raising interest rates and the government has lowered subsidies on gasoline and diesel fuel. Sales fell 1.8 percent in September from a year earlier, the third consecutive monthly decline.