India recorded zero car sales in April due to lockdown

India recorded zero car sales in April due to lockdown

The Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in India has left its mark on the country’s automotive industry, as it recorded exactly zero domestic sales in the first month (April) of the 2020-2021 financial year, reported Bloomberg and The Times of India.

India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, declared a nationwide lockdown for 21 days from March 25, which has since been extended twice until May 17, although some restrictions will be lifted from May 4.

Major car manufacturers in the country like Maruti Suzuki as well as Mahindra & Mahindra did not delivery a single vehicle in the domestic market last month, while other companies like Hyundai Motor India, Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Toyota Kirloskar Motor and Honda Cars India reported similarly.

“Maruti Suzuki India Limited had zero sales in the domestic market, including sales to OEM, in April 2020. This was because in compliance with the government orders, all production facilities were closed,” the company said in a press release. “There’s always a first time for everything. I can’t say what will happen in May. Whether we will start production or not is not possible to forecast,” R.C. Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki told Bloomberg.

India recorded zero car sales in April due to lockdown

Meanwhile, Veejay Nakra, who is the chief executive officer of Mahindra & Mahindra’s automotive division, said, “at Mahindra, we are working hand-in-hand with all stakeholders, especially our dealer and supplier partners, to get our ecosystem started, once the lockdown is lifted.”

According to data from Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), car companies in the country sold 2,773,575 passenger cars in the previous 2019-2020 financial year (ending March 31), which is less than what was recorded in the years before: 3,377,389 cars sold in 2018-2019 and 3,288,581 cars in 2017-2018. Given April’s result, a severe drop is expected to happen once again for the latest financial year.

Despite zero sales in the local market last month, a number of companies did record exports after certain ports in the country resumed operations, including Maruti Suzuki (632 units), Mahindra & Mahindra (733 units) and Hyundai (1,341 units).

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Gerard Lye

Originating from the corporate world with a background in finance and economics, Gerard’s strong love for cars led him to take the plunge into the automotive media industry. It was only then did he realise that there are more things to a car than just horsepower count.

 

Comments

  • vivizurianti on May 06, 2020 at 11:19 am

    Worldwide pandemic, lockdown, loss of jobs, employment rate climbing, closing of business, economy downturn, soaring cost of living, corruption, high cost of hospitalization, etc

    Who would buy new car as such moment?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 1
  • Celup King on May 06, 2020 at 11:42 am

    Habislah India! Better sell off to China.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 13 Thumb down 8
    • Slippers on May 06, 2020 at 7:21 pm

      Kunta is already long gone. Dah muak la bro

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 0
      • Troll Hunter on May 07, 2020 at 11:16 am

        Nuh-uh mate. He is still around but you see, since his paymaster government collapsed, his funding got cut 90% so you can see him only 10% active nowadays. If there is one thing good about the fall of PH, this is one of them.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 10
  • Semi-Value (Member) on May 07, 2020 at 12:36 pm

    proud of my machas, doing the right thing

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
 

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