New Covid-19 lockdowns hit vehicle sales: Siam

The Covid-19 pandemic induced partial lockdown in several states hit sales of cars, SUVs, vans, bikes and scooters during April as showrooms remained shut while those open wore a deserted look.

On Wednesday the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers or Siam said passenger vehicles sales in April fell 10 per cent at 2,61,633 units compared with 2,90,939 units sold in March 2021. No year-on-year comparison data is available due to total national lockdown in April 2020 which led to zero sales in that month.

Sales of two-wheelers also fell 33 per cent last month at 9,95,097 compared with 14,96,806 units sold in March.

While sales of threewheelers dropped 57 per cent at 13,728 units, the all categories of vehicles plunged 30 per cent at 12,70,458 units.

While showrooms remain shut in most parts of the country, automakers have been forced to advance their maintenance shutdown by a month to May due to a number of business disruptions.

Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, Honda Cars, Honda Motorcycles and Scooter, Toyota Kirloskar, MG Motor, Yamaha and Mahindra & Mahindra announced temporary plant closures. Other companies like Tata Motors are rationalising output as per demand.

Since retail off-take has been impacted, automakers are trying to avoid a pile of inventory by cutting back on production.

The lockdown has hit the supply chain involving component supplies.

“Supply chain related production challenges continue with the lockdown restrictions in many parts of the country. The demand has been clearly impacted by the second wave of Covid-19, both in terms of low consumer sentiments and closure of dealerships due to lockdown restrictions,” Rajesh Menon, Director General at Siam, said.

On May 10, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association or

FADA also reported lower sales during April based on the vehicle registration data sourced from the regional transport offices.

When compared to the previous month of March, FADA said in April 2021 total vehicle registrations were down 28.15 per cent at 11,85,374 units versus 16,49,678 units.

Passenger vehicle registrations were down 25.33 per cent at 2,08,883 units in April, as against 2,79,745 units in March this year, while those of 2W declined by 27.63 per cent at 8,65,134 units, as against

11,95,445 in the previous month, it pointed out.

Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, UP, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Goa are some of the states that have announced full lockdowns, putting automotive sales in the non-essential category.

“The first nine days of May have seen extremely lean sales due to lockdown announced by a majority of states. Even where dealerships are open, the walk-ins have dropped to

30 per cent and customers are delaying their decision," FADA said.