Automakers companies in India cited disruptions caused by the Covid-19 outbreak as one of the reasons for the sales decline in February. The Covid-19 outbreak in China had a mixed impact on India’s auto sales in February with some companies having to cut production amid disruption in parts supply.
Eicher Motors
The Covid-19 outbreak had minimal impact on the production of motorcycles during the month of February, according to the company. Some of Eicher’s supply partners, who are dependent on China-based manufacturers for sourcing certain components, did suffer but the company is making all efforts to maintain its supplies.
Eicher has already moved a large part of its product portfolio to BS VI, India’s latest emission standard for domestic vehicles. The production of BS VI motorcycles is ramping up as BS VI supply chain is gradually stabilising. The Eicher Motors sales rose by 1pc in February with Royal-Enfield growing at 1pc from the year prior to 63,536 units.
Mahindra & Mahindra
Mahindra has ramped down BS-IV vehicle production which has been in-line with the company’s plan for February. However, because of the unforeseeable challenges related to the parts-supply from China, M&M’s BS-VI ramp-up was affected. Consequently, the company witnessed a high de-growth in the company’s billing volume for February and their dealer inventory is now under 10 days. Going into March, the company anticipate the challenge on parts-supply to continue for the next few weeks, before normalcy is attained. The company’s passenger vehicles sales fell by a whopping 60pc in February compared to a year ago.
Tata Motors
Domestic commercial vehicle domestic sales in February 2020 dipped by 35pc from the last year. Supply disruptions due to Covid-19 outbreak in China could have some effect Tata Motor’s transition to the BS-VI standards, but all efforts are being made to mitigate it, said company sources.
The virus outbreak in China and a recent fire incident at one of the company’s strategic vendors affected the vehicle production and wholesale volume. The company is taking multiple actions to reduce the impact. Tata’s BS-IV vehicle stock is well below the targeted level. The company said that they are getting a strong demand for the BS-VI vehicles. In February, Tata Motor’s total sales dropped by 32pc from the prior year.
Hero MotoCorp
In February, India’s two-wheeler manufacturer Hero Motocorp’s production operations were adversely impacted by the virus outbreak in China. The company had to develop alternate sources for procuring components. Meanwhile, Hero Motocrop said that component makers in China, having restarted production and are expected to resume supplies soon. Hero’s total sales were down by 19pc to 4,98,242 units in February.
TVS Motors
The Company is on track to reducing dealer level of the BSIV stock in the domestic market and is confident of selling it in March. The pandemic in China impacted TVS’ supply chain for certain BS-VI vehicles components. The company working to normalise the situation.
TVS Motor Company sold 253,261 units in February as against a sales of 299,353 units in February 2019. Sales dropped by 15pc compared to the prior year.