While the passenger vehicle manufacturers and dealers were cheering the recovery in the segment later last year, the rise of the second wave of COVID-19 has once again thrown a spanner in the works.
Lockdowns and curfews announced by several Indian states, including Maharashtra and Delhi, have resulted in the April wholesale dispatches declining 10.07% to 261,633 units in April 2021 compared to 290,939 units of March 2021, according to the data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers
We must remember that the industry reported zero sales in April 2020, owing to the national lockdown announced due to the pandemic.
In fact, the utility vehicle segment, which was continuing to post strong growth, has also declined by 11.02% to 108,871 units in April 2021. Passenger cars and vans saw a decline of 10.06% and 0.31% respectively.
Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM said, “As expected, the COVID wave has impacted the sales of vehicles in the month of April 2021. Sales of passenger vehicles fell by about 10.07%, compared to March 2021, due to various restrictions in states, which have been experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases. Sales of two-wheelers have also plummeted by 33.52%, while three-wheelers witnessed a de-growth of 57.01%, from March 2021 to April 2021.”
Menon further added that 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,” he said.
| Domestic Sales in April 2021 | |||
| Segment/Sub-segment | Mar-21 | Apr-21 | % Change |
| Passenger Vehicles (PVs)* | |||
| Passenger Cars | 1,56,985 | 1,41,194 | -10.06% |
| Utility Vehicles (UVs) | 1,22,350 | 1,08,871 | -11.02% |
| Vans | 11,604 | 11,568 | -0.31% |
| Total | 2,90,939 | 2,61,633 | -10.07% |
| Three Wheelers | |||
| Passenger Carrier | 21,614 | 9,248 | -57.21% |
| Goods Carrier | 10,316 | 4,480 | -56.57% |
| Total | 31,930 | 13,728 | -57.01% |
| Two Wheelers | |||
| Scooter/ Scooterettee | 4,57,677 | 3,00,462 | -34.35% |
| Motorcycle/Step-Throughs | 9,93,996 | 6,67,841 | -32.81% |
| Mopeds | 44,688 | 25,977 | -41.87% |
| Electric Two Wheelers | 445 | 817 | 83.60% |
| Total | 14,96,806 | 9,95,097 | -33.52% |
| Quadricycle | 7 | 0 | NA |
| Grand Total of All Segments | 18,19,682 | 12,70,458 | -30.18% |
Source: SIAM
Talking about other segments, two-wheeler sales continue to remain under pressure due to poor market sentiment and low economic activity. The segment sold less than a million units in April 2021 seeing a decline of 33.52%.
The three-wheeler segment, which is largely dependent upon local permits, has seen a steep decline of 57.01%, as people largely seem to prefer personal mobility over public transport.
Plant Shutdowns
At present, many automakers have shut down their plants to combat COVID-19.
“Vehicle manufacturing has been restricted and OEMs have come forward for augmenting oxygen supply for medical use. The industry is putting all efforts to increase the availability of oxygen by providing oxygen generating plants, concentrators, cylinders, mobile oxygen vans, setting up vehicle tracking systems in oxygen-carrying vehicles to reduce their turn-around-time. In fact, some members have also tied up with PSA plant manufacturers to de-bottleneck their operations and scale up the production of oxygen plants. Other efforts include augmenting medical care facilities and infrastructure,” Menon said.