Maruti Suzuki sales for March fall 47% as COVID-19 effects loom

Maruti Suzuki Limited has reportedly announced a nearly 47% year-on-year fall in its overall sales during March, recording a sale of 83,792 units. The slump in sales can be attributed to the recent government orders to halt the operations during a nationwide lockdown to control the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Reportedly, during the fiscal year 2019-20 the automobile firm witnessed total sales of 1.563 million units, a 16.1% decline as opposed to 1.862 million units in the previous financial year. The overall sales during March 2020 is not comparable with the sales in March 2019 owing to the suspension of operations from March 22, due to the national lockdown announced by the government.  

In a statement by the company, it will continue to extend support to the government at the center and state levels and follow the rules set by the authorities to control the surging cases of coronavirus COVID-19 globally.

Apparently, during the last month, the company sold nearly 76,976 vehicles, 47.4% less than 145,000 units in March 2019. There was a decline in export sales by 55% to 4,712 units from 10,463 as compared the previous year.

For the record, the light commercial vehicles segment has experienced a blow of 71.5% in the domestic market with only 736 units in March 2020, as compared to 2,582 units for the same period in the previous year.

Seemingly, the automotive industry has been witnessing a slag for several months with many manufacturers reporting a stark fall in the total sales owing to change in consumer sentiments during the economic slowdown.

Consequently, auto dealers are now experiencing a halt in customer walk-ins with surging COVID-19 cases being registered in India and the leading national lockdown. As per reliable sources, the fiscal deficit of India in 2020-21 may rise up to 6.2% of the GDP from 3.5% as estimated by the government due to the coronavirus outbreak.

 

Source Credits: https://www.business-standard.com/article/automobile/maruti-suzuki-car-sales-drop-47-in-march-ends-fy20-with-16-decline-120040100377_1.html