Indian automakers might just register a total of 0 unit sales this month

To apprise you of the situation, I will be making use of a cricket metaphor (because hey, our country is obsessed with the sport, I am too).

Consider India is batting, on the other end is the spearhead Coronavirus. Within a few moments Covid 19 bowls the entire team of India out, for a measly score of 0. The only runs that team India makes is in the form of a few wide deliveries. All thanks to HT Auto, we can analyse this situation. Here’s a link to their news: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/cars/not-a-single-car-sold-car-makers-in-india-may-be-bowled-out-for-duck-in-april-41587794657950.html

For context, India in the above scenario is the Indian Auto Industry, which has suffered gross loses at the hands of Covid-19. The wides refer to the a few sales made via the online platforms. To curb the spread of the disease, the Indian Government imposed a strict lockdown which was implemented on the 24th of March, and this resulted in industries being closed down.

Initially it was believed that the lockdown would end by the 15th of April, but it has been further extended since then to the 3rd of May. This has led to production not taking place, supply lines being derailed, demand for products is nil and with this, the Auto Industry state has been reduced to a very sorry one.

The auto industry at this point is stagnating, and there is nothing that can be done to reverse this. For the first time in the history of country, the Indian Auto Industry will return almost 0 sales at the end of the month, and the financial repercussions might just be too grave to bear.

To make matters even worse, there are rumours suggesting that the lockdown would be extended beyond the 3rd May in the hot spots, and this would be make the auto sector very anxious. However, there is not much that the Auto Industry could have done to avert this, as this crisis was clearly beyond their control.

Coronavirus seems to be quite widespread in states such as Telagana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, particularly Maharashtra. For the Auto Sector to resume operations, a state of normalcy must return to these states, without which, the Auto Sector would have to continue their forced hiatus.

Industries away from the Covid hotspots have been allowed to resume production at less than half their strength and output, and to restrict the industry to such number will make functioning very difficult.

Furthermore, allowing production to take place does solves only one part of the problem, other problems such as supply chains being out of action and dealerships not operational further pose as complications and until all these difficulties are not solved, the Indian Auto Industry will continue to decay.

Either one can continue to complain about these issues, or they could try to come up with creative solutions to counter the problem, and many Indian motor brands are brainstorming heavily to come up with new ideas which could help them.

Indian motorcycle company TVS intends on using just-in-time manufacturing, Morris Garages and Tata Motors have started online platforms via which customers can book and purchase vehicles. These steps help at a minuscule level, but with the current circumstances, the Indian Auto industry will take all the help they can get. The next month will be influential is deciding the path of recovery that the Indian motor industry is going to take. The industries have suffered financially, but closing them down has saved numerous lives, and that in itself is a win.

For now, all we can do as individuals is, stay home (if we can), practise social distancing, wash our hands. If we continue to do this, we can curtail the spread and flatten the curve. Stay safe readers!