As per the latest report by Society of Indian Manufacturers (SIAM) for March, the passenger vehicle sales in the country has witnessed a sharp decline. As per the sales report, the sector has already struggled in maintaining the growth rate in the past and now the sector is witnessing a weak demand due to the fallout due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Passenger vehicles sales in India almost fell to 51% as compared to the records from the previous year’s sales report due to the nationwide lockdown imposed by the government in the account of the spread of Coronavirus pandemic. Due to this pandemic, the automobile sector witnessed a declination rate in production as well as further dispatch to the customers.
Even if see some records and statistics, the automobile industry sector was already facing a prolonged slowdown in growth rates, due to turnover for Petrol/Diesel based vehicles to Electric/Hybrid vehicles. This can also be observed by a report that shows a slow decline in production volume from the last financial year by 18%, which only indicated 21.5 million units.
This condition has not only affected four-wheeler alone but as per the data released by an autonomous body, the Society of Indian Automobile (SIAM), the passenger vehicle sales seem to affect the four-wheelers by a decline of 51% and the worst hit on the market was for the commercial vehicles witnessing a downfall of massive 88%, followed by two-wheelers observing a 40% decline in its sales report as compared to previous financial year reports.
Observing this serious condition, the SIAM director-general Rajesh Menon mentioned this fall to be the sharpest amongst the sector has ever witnessed. Not only the sector was facing many ups and downs from the past few months, but the COVID-19 outbreak made the condition even more critical, he added.
Even the SIAM President Rajan Wadhera in his conference said, ” The month of march 2020 proved out to be one of the most challenging months for the automobile sector”. The president also added that the 21-day lockdown plan resulted in bringing the production and sales down the graph, and the automobile manufacturing companies are struggling to meet the working capital required by the companies.
The estimate report provided by SIAM mentioned that the automobile industry in the country is facing a massive loss of Rs. 2,300 crores per day in its production turnover. Not only the industry was under a passive pressure due to slowdown and disrupted supply chain, but the reports also suggest that majority of the vehicle manufacturer announced a shutdown of their manufacturing unit in 2020 March’s last week.
Witnessing great trouble for the automotive sector, the President also held several meeting and conferences with the government to find out the best solution which could minimise the impact of COVID-19 on India’s automobile industry.