Maruti, Hyundai, Tata, Mahindra, Honda and Others Sell 0 Cars in April 200 - SAD!

The ongoing unfavourable situation has brought almost everything in India to a standstill. Things in the automotive sector have been no exception. As an effect of the nationwide lockout imposed to contain the rapid spread of the pathogen, the shutdown of manufacturing factories and showrooms has led to the car sales figures of all companies falling to an absolute zero last month. With this, it won't be wrong to say that the Indian automobile industry has seen its worst month ever. As India enters the lockdown 3.0 with some relaxations, car sales will pick up from the rock bottom but won't be much to write home about. 

The automotive industry of India just went through its worst ever month in the entire history in April 2020

While the entire country has been locked down due to the global health crisis, all non-essential activities are banned from happening in public. Manufacturing facilities and car dealerships remained shut throughout last month. For the first time in the Indian market, not a single car from any manufacturer was sold across the country throughout the entire month.

No wonder, then, that, even India’s largest auto manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki, has reported 0 sales in April. This is the very first time ever that no Maruti Suzuki cars were retailed in India for a whole month. Still, the brand managed to export 632 units when the Mundra port resumed operations after ensuring all preventive measures.

The nationwide-lockout has caused almost everything to come to a halt and it doesn't look like normalcy would be restored anytime soon

Mr Ashish Harsharaj Kale, the President of the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association of India (FADA) has stated that April 2020 would be “a month which the entire automobile industry would like to forget”. Aside from Maruti Suzuki, other leading automakers experienced just the same scenarios. Companies like Hyundai, Tata, Honda, Mahindra, etc. also registered 0 sales unit in the same period.

With all production plants remaining shut from March 20 to until recently, the domestic auto industry is facing a huge revenue loss of over 1 lakh rupees (and still counting), which amounts to 0.5 per cent of the country’s GDP. Currently, most major cities in India are labelled as hotspots as the number of infections has been on a rise. This means businesses are likely to work in a limited capacity or remains shut till July. While India is still under lockout until May 17, there is no exact timeline on when the industry and society can get back to normalcy.