BENGALURU (Reuters) – Maruti Suzuki India’s March-quarter profit fell 28% as poor demand for cars during the period was exacerbated by a nationwide lockdown to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus, hurting sales at the country’s top-selling carmaker.

The COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated problems for Indian automakers that were already facing a slowdown in demand, higher costs and a pile-up of inventory.

In late March, Indians were ordered to stay indoors as the government rushed to curb the spread of the virus, forcing automakers including Maruti, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors to suspend manufacturing.

Maruti, which typically sells one in every two cars in India, said it did not sell a single unit in April.

Its net profit fell to 12.92 billion rupees ($171.53 million) for the three months ended March 31, compared with 17.96 billion rupees a year earlier.

Seventeen analysts on average had expected Maruti to post a profit of 12.95 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv data.

Lower sales volume and higher spending on promotions outweighed the company’s efforts to cut operating expenses and control costs, as well as a reduction in corporate tax rate, Maruti said in a statement.

Shares of the company, which were last up 1.5%, pared gains sharply after its results. The broader Mumbai market was 2% higher in afternoon trade.

Revenue from operations fell 15% to 181.98 billion rupees, said the company, which is majority-owned by Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp

Domestic unit sales at the carmaker dropped 16% to 360,428 vehicles during the quarter.

($1 = 75.3240 Indian rupees)