Coronavirus outbreak: Passenger vehicle sales plunge 51% in March

Two-wheeler sales saw a decline of nearly 40%, says Siam

Passenger vehicle sales in India declined by a whopping 51 per cent in March as the 21-day lockdown forced people to stay indoors.
 

“The automobile industry witnessed one of its sharpest declines in domestic sales in March 2020 due to the subdued demand and weak consumer sentiment. This was further aggravated by the Covid-19 outbreak in the country,” said Rajesh Menon, director general at the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam).
 

According to the data released by Siam, passenger vehicle sales in March 2020 dropped to 143,014 units, from 291,861 units in March 2019 — a decline of 51 per cent.
 

“India’s automobile industry, which is seeing its largest-ever drop in sales, has now engaged in a dialogue with the Centre on policy measures. This could minimise the impact of Covid-19 on the economy, especially the domestic automobile industry,” added Menon.

“There would be challenges on the supply-demand side, and the availability of finance. These will need to be addressed to bring growth back into the sector,” said Siam President Rajan Wadhera.
 

Similarly, commercial vehicle sales last month saw a massive fall of 88.95 per cent at 13,027 units, against 109,022 units in March 2019.

Two-wheeler sales saw a decline of 39.83 per cent at 866,849 units in March 2020, compared to 1,440,593 units in March 2019.

Total sales across categories declined by 44.95 per cent last month to 1,050,367 units, against 1,908,097 units in March 2019. As revenues took a severe beating, original equipment manufacturers struggled on meeting fixed costs and working capital requirements, added Wadhera.
 

“According to our estimates at Siam, the auto industry is losing Rs 2,300 crore in production turnover for every day of closure,” added Wadhera.
 

In the last financial year (April 1, 2019-March 31, 2020), passenger vehicle sales saw a decline of 17.82 per cent to 2,775,679 units, compared to 3,377,389 units in the previous financial year.
 

Similarly, commercial vehicles sales declined 28.75 per cent to 717,688 units in April 2019-March 2020, compared to 1,007,311 units in April 2018-March 2019.
 

Two-wheeler sales also declined 17.76 per cent to 17,417,616 units in the last financial year, against 21,179,847 units in 2018-19.