Automobile firms in most parts of the world including Nigeria are heading for zero sales as the Month of April, 2020 drives to an end.
Toyota South Africa Senior Vice President incharge of sales and marketing, Leon Theron had last week revealed that Sales in South Africa stood at “basically zero” in April.
The company also projected between 15-20 per cent drop in production in 2020.
Meanwhile, the Indian automobile industry is also set for almost zero sales in April — the first time in its history — as factories and dealerships are shut due to the nationwide lockdown.
RC Bhargava of Maruti Suzuki, Venu Srinivasan of TVS Motor, Mahindra & Mahindra’s Pawan Goenka and other industry leaders EIT spoke to aren’t expecting much improvement in sales next month as well, and have warned of a prolonged crisis in the sector because of the impact of Covid-19 on the economy and consumer sentiment.
They, however, expect a shift in the way the industry functions, with companies likely working with lean inventory as was the practice in the olden days.
“While the month of May looks bleak and still uncertain, (beyond that) it will depend on how the Covid virus progresses,” Maruti Suzuki chairman Bhargava said.
In india, the sector employs more than 40 million people directly or indirectly, as well as contributes over 8% to the country’s GDP and 15% to the government’s tax collection.
The government has allowed factories outside Covid-19 hotspots to start operations last week, but automakers have yet to restart their plants as they are waiting for the ecosystem of suppliers, dealers and financiers also to open for business.
Even if the shutdown ends in early May, in the best-case scenario they would be able to start even partial production only by mid-May, said an industry executive.
