Automobile manufacturers dispatched about 12.70 lakh vehicles, including passenger vehicles, two-wheelers and three wheelers, to dealers in April, lower by 30% compared to about 18.19 lakh vehicles dispatched in March 2021 due to the impact of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, according to data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
The wholesales of passenger vehicles stood at over 2.61 lakh units in April, a month-on-month decline of 10.7% from 2.90 lakh units sold in March 2021, due to various restrictions in States which have been experiencing surge in COVID-19 cases.
Likewise, sales of two-wheelers plummeted by 33.52% to about 9.95 lakh units from over 14.96 lakh units, and sales of three-wheelers de-grew 57.01% to 13,728 units.
All data comparisons have been done month-on-month as sales and production was zero in April 2020 due to the nationwide lockdown.
Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM said “As expected, the COVID wave has impacted the sales of vehicles in the month of April 2021...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”.
As per the data released by the industry body, production of vehicles also declined compared to March 2021. While production of passenger vehicles was down 11.15% to about 3.05 lakh units, that of two-wheelers fell nearly 23% to about 15.05 lakh units. Three-wheeler production was lower by 13.76% to 63,584 units.
Exports of vehicles, on the other hand, saw an upward trend across all categories month-on-month. Passenger vehicle exports stood at 42,025 units, up 4.58%, while two-wheeler and three-wheeler exports were up 21.10% to 4.31 lakh units and 16.76% up to 46,437 units, respectively.
“As our country battles with the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic...vehicle manufacturing has been restricted and OEMs have come forward for augmenting Oxygen supply for medical use,” Mr. Menon said.
He added that 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 system in oxygen carrying vehicles to reduce their turn-around-time, etc.
“In fact, some members have also tied up with PSA plant manufacturers to de-bottleneck their operations and scale up production of oxygen plants. Other efforts include augmenting medical care facilities and infrastructure,” he said.
