Indian Car Industry Sales In May 2020 Registers Around 36,000 Units: Decline Of Over 85 Percent

Updated: Monday, June 8, 2020, 13:34 [IST]

The Indian auto industry has been facing its worst period yet, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down all operations in the country for close to two months. This has also taken a heavy toll on revenues and economic activities of vehicle manufacturers in India.

Total Car Sales In India For May 2020 Stood At Just Over 36,000 Units: Indian Car Industry Registers 85% Decline Compared To Last Year

All operations of car brands from production to sales and service had been shut down since the third week of March 2020. However, the government decided to allow vehicle manufacturers to restart operations from the second week of May 2020, in a bid to boost the economy.

Although most car makers have resumed sales operations, there is still low customer sentiment towards new car purchases in India. Car manufacturers expect demand for vehicles to get back to near-normalcy only after a couple of more months.

Having said that, car sales in the Indian market during the month of May 2020 registered 36,536 units of sales. This although extremely bad, is still better than the month of April 2020, when the entire auto industry registered 0 units of sales as the country was under strict lockdown.

The 36,000 units of sales in the Indian market comes to post the ease in lockdown regulations, which started from the second week of May 2020. To give a better idea of the COVID-19 impact on the auto industry, car sales in the month of May 2019 has registered over 2.36 lakh units; this is an 85% decline in sales.

The Hyundai Creta which was launched just prior to the start of lockdown in March 2020, registered the highest sales of 3,212 units; becoming the best-selling car in the country during the previous month.

The all-new Hyundai Creta overtook the likes of the Maruti Ertiga, Mahindra Bolero and the Maruti Dzire to take the top-slot. This is also the first time in many years that a non-Maruti Suzuki product is on the top position in terms of monthly sales — here are the top-10 cars for the month of May 2020.

Thoughts About The Indian Car Industry Sales In May 2020

The Indian car market is slowly working its way to increase demand, which is expected by many to reach near-normalcy in the coming months. Car brands are offering discounts and benefits to further boost sales and increase demand in the market as well.