Lockdown Wreaks Havoc On Car Sales, Maruti Slips By Almost 50%

Indian automobile industry’s hopes of recovering from the sales slump in the year 2020 were all high. But the ongoing pandemic has shattered them all. The year started with a slew of launches from various carmakers. Tata launched a host of products while Maruti launched the facelifted version of segment-leading Vitara Brezza. That said, the virus outbreak made governance impose a nation-wide lockdown, which changed the story altogether. The largest car manufacturer of the country – Maruti has registered a drop in sales of around 47 per cent on a YoY basis.

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A drop of 47 per cent drop in the sales figures of Maruti Suzuki in March 2020 could be ensued from the nation-wide lockdown.

Last year, in the month of March, Maruti sold a total of 1.45 lakh units in the domestic market. This figure is the grand total of the 16,826 units from mini hatchback segment, 82,532 from compact hatch segment, 3,672 units by the mid-size sedan space, 25,536 units from the UV segment, and 16,438 units of the passenger vans. This year, however, Maruti could only sell 76,976 units in the domestic passenger vehicle space. The smaller mini hatches contributed for 15,988 units, compact hatchbacks for 40,519 units, mid-size saloon segment by just 1,863 units, while the utility vehicles contributed by 11,904 units, and vans by 5,966 units.

The carmaker also exported 10,463 units last year in the month of March, while this year, the manufacturer could only export 4,712 units. If the total sales number is to be considered, Maruti sold 1,58, 076 cars in March 2019 (including the domestic sales and exported units), while this year it could only sell 83,792 cars, registering a drop of 47 per cent. According to the carmaker, "The sales during March 2020 are not comparable with sales in March 2019 due to the suspension of operations with effect from March 22, 2020, in line with national policy."

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Maruti has launched the Dzire facelift with a powerful and fuel-efficient DualJet engine to fill the gap created by the absence of a diesel engine.

In other news, Maruti has announced that it will now sell nay diesel car in the BS-6 era. Thus, the manufacturer is updating its lineup with powerful engines. Maruti has recently launched the Dzire facelift with the new K12N DualJet engine and refreshed front face. The new engine is more powerful than the unit it replaces.  The 1.2L K12N unit belts out a peak power output of 90 PS, whereas the older unit propelled only 83 PS as its max. output. Also, the new unit is more fuel-efficient to make-up for the discontinued frugal and torquey diesel engine.