India’s top automakers couldn’t ship a single automobile to dealers in April as they closed production after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the world’s biggest stay-at-home restrictions in a bid to stop Covid-19 coronavirus from spreading.
Maruti Suzuki India, which produces about half the cars on the country’s roads, and Mahindra & Mahindra, the nation’s biggest SUV maker, recorded no sales in the domestic market in April. Hyundai Motors India couldn’t sell a single unit last month either. Maruti sold over 120,000 cars a month in the year ended March 31.
“There’s always a first time for everything,” stated Maruti’s Chairman R.C. Bhargava in a phone interview. “I can’t say what will happen in May. Whether we will resume production or not is not possible to forecast.”
The total lockdown has been hurting regional automakers, who sold more than 2.8 million cars, SUVs and vans each month in the year ended March, more than peers in other nations. In China, while sales declined significantly in February, the peak of the pandemic in that country, companies managed to sell 224,000 cars. In India, the pandemic and lockdown orders on March 25 have since disrupted supply chains.
With the economy set for a rare contraction, the outlook for the automakers remains bleak. They are losing 23 billion rupees ($306 million) on daily basis with the factories closed, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). The auto lobby group has written to the government seeking help.
“Considering the fragile health of the automotive industry, as also its economic contribution, we are writing to request you to kindly allow the entire automotive value chain for opening up and re-commencing operations,” car and auto part makers noted in a joint letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday.
The ministry extended the lockdown restrictions for most parts of the country for two weeks, now the lockdown will remain at place until at least 17 May.
Bhargava in a recent interview with Bloomberg had stated that he expects increase in car sales after the lockdown is lifted as customers appear more motivated to purchase vehicles than before the pandemic because they see personal vehicles as a more safer means of transport than the public transport.
Although there were no sales in the local market in April, Maruti exported 632 units after a port in the western state of Gujarat restarted operations, while Mahindra sold 733 vehicles in the worldwide markets. Hyundai shipped 1341 units in April. These are wholesale numbers as Indian automakers do not announce retail figures.
About 39,980 people in India have been confirmed as being infected with the coronavirus. The virus has killed 1,301 people in the country.
