Shares of Maruti Suzuki fell around 5 percent on Tuesday ahead of its March quarter earnings due on Wednesday. According to brokerages, India's largest carmaker is expected to witness a sharp fall in profit and volumes in Q4.

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The automaker had posted revenue of Rs 21,460 crore and profit of Rs 1,800 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

The stock fell as much as 4.8 percent to Rs 4,692.85 per share on the BSE. It has underperformed benchmark indices, with the stock down 41 percent as against a 29 percent fall in the Nifty50 index. Meanwhile, the Nifty Auto index also shed 42 percent in the March quarter.

"Indian auto companies are likely to report dismal 4QFY20 results given the sharp decline in sales volumes. Margins should also remain under pressure due to the adverse operating leverage effect on account of lower top-line," global brokerage firm Jefferies said in a report.

Nomura expects Maruti's revenues to decline around 13 percent YoY on the back of volume drop and net profit to fall 17 percent YoY to Rs 1,496 crore.

Meanwhile, Kotak Institutional Equities believes that the company's profit may slip 28 percent YoY to Rs 1,293.5 crore. It also expects EBITDA to decline by 20 percent in Q4 led by a 12 percent YoY decline in revenues and 80 bps decline in EBITDA margin.

Axis Capital expects about 15 percent fall in the automaker's revenue, while profit decline is seen at 18 percent YoY. It added that cost reduction efforts by the company will offset some of the negative operating leverage impact.

Earlier, the carmaker said that it did not sell a single unit in the domestic market last month due to coronavirus-led nationwide lockdown. The sales downturn was due to compliance with the government orders prohibiting production facilities from functioning in the wake of the pandemic, it added.

The company, however, exported 632 units from Mundra port following resumption of port operations.

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