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The Indian automobile industry, which is reeling under the shortage of semiconductors, post the second wave of Coronavirus pandemic, is now keeping a track of the Omicron variant. It does not, however, see much of an impact in the near future.
For instance, the country’s largest passenger car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) said it does not see any strong impact right now – neither in its production plants in Haryana and Gujarat – nor at dealerships across the country.
“At the moment, there is no impact, but let’s see how it goes. What we usually do is make preparations for safety of our people as per the government norms,” RC Bhargava, Chairman, MSIL told BusinessLine . The company, after a cut in its productions since September, had increased the capacity gradually from October and is expected to do around 86 per cent of the normal capacity.
According to Rakesh Srivastava, Managing Director, Nissan Motor India, “We have the plans to manage challenges on dealer functioning and plant operations.”
Post-lockdown effect
The industry veterans said that the beginning of the financial year 2021-22, gradually started to show the positive effect of the phased unlocking of the economy. However, the Omicron variant of the virus has once again created fear globally.
“It may further impact the supply in passenger vehicles if chip-making countries go under lockdown. The two-wheeler market which continues to face demand headwinds may further go in slump in case of a third wave,” Vinkesh Gulati, President, Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), said.
According to the latest data by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the grand total of all vehicles sales between April and November declined by a little more than one per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 1,10,89,266 units as compared with 1,12,05,008 units in corresponding period last year.
While total passenger vehicle sales had grown by 26 per cent y-o-y to 18,29,693 units during the period as against 14,55,558 units in April-November 2020, the two-wheeler sales had declined by 5.50 per cent y-o-y to 91,09,853 units against 96,39,267 units in same period last year.
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