Vehicle sales crash in May due to Covid

India’s automakers reported a sharp decline in wholesale dispatches in May, sequentially, as production and vehicle supplies took a hit due to the rise in cases of Covid-19 which led to the imposition of lockdown measures in almost all states across the country.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd— country’s largest car maker— reported a 74.2% month-onmonth decline in sales to just 35,293 units in May.

While, the country’s secondlargest vehicle manufacturer, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, also reported a drop in vehicle dispatches by 48.9% to 25,001 units.

Mumbai-based car makers, Tata Motors saw passenger vehicle (PV) wholesale fall by 39.5% to 15,181 while Mahindra and Mahindra’s dispatches also dropped by 56.2% to 8,002 units.

Manufacturing and sales of automobiles came under pressure from the first week of April when Maharashtra announced strict lockdown measures. Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu etc.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Hero Motocorp Ltd, Hyundai Motor India Ltd and others have either stopped production or reduced output significantly.

Some manufacturers like

Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto Ltd have been continuing with production with limited capacity.

“We are seeing a strong growth momentum for our entire portfolio. The Thar is clocking robust bookings, despite extended waiting periods. Our power brands (Scorpio and Bolero) continue to do well. With the cases coming down and gradual opening up of markets, we foresee strong demand rebound. We are working closely with our supplier partners to manage supply chain issues and meet the market demand,” said Veejay Nakra, chief executive officer, Automotive Division, M&M.

With Covid cases showing signs of decline in the past one week, some automakers have started resuming production but only with single shifts.

On the commercial vehicle front, dispatches of vehicles at Tata Motors—country’s largest manufacturer—slipped by 35% to 9,371 units. Chennai based Ashok Leyland also reported a 65.6% decline in sales to just 2,738 units.

Commercial vehicle sales started showing signs of a recovery from the third quarter of FY 21 and manufacturers were expecting demand to grow substantially in the current fiscal as manufacturing activity and construction of infrastructure projects gathered pace.