A prolonged economic slowdown followed by the Coronavirus outbreak hit the Indian automotive industry hard, taking it back by many years, industry body SIAM said on Monday.
Passenger vehicle(PV) sales growth turned red and hit its lowest rate in six years as nationwide lockdown and COVID-19 concerns affected consumer sentiments.
According to the figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), sales of passenger vehicles, comprising cars, utility vehicles, and vans, declined 2.24% to 2,773,519 units in FY21, declining below the 3 million sales unit mark for the second time in a row since FY17. Comparatively, the last fiscal year PV sales were even lower than FY16’s sales figures when the total PV sales in April to March period stood at 2,789,678 units, signaling a 6-year low.
A late surge in the latter half of FY21 failed to make up for the lost sales during the earlier months. Hence all vehicle segments ended the fiscal year in negative. According to Kenichi Ayukawa, President, SIAM, recovery from here will require time and effort by all stakeholders.
“There is uncertainty in the value chain owing to semiconductors, lockdowns, and raw materials. In an environment of uncertainty, instead of trying to predict the future, we will all work hard to create it,” he added.
Sales of commercial vehicles in the last fiscal dipped by 20.77% to 568,559 units, and two-wheelers fell by over 66% to 216,197 units. Overall, vehicle sales across categories decreased by 13.60% to 18,615,588 units.
The outlook remains mixed for the auto industry with a lower base of the first half likely to bring in massive growth figures, but the actual numbers of vehicle sales could below with the fresh surge in cases across India curtail demand and restrict buying across segments.
In March 2021 passenger vehicle(PV) sales doubled to 290,939 units compared to 135,196 units in March 2020 mainly because of the low base.
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