Auto sector hopes to shift gears

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Along with the rest, the automobile industry too suffered heavily during the lockdown. However, it was back to some hope by the first week of May. Though public transport resumed in a limited sense, many are reluctant to use them. The automobile industry has seen this as a chance to revive its business and its plans to scale up sales have begun.“The industry was badly affected by the floods in the last two years.  This year, it was the virus outbreak. The entire sales in March and April were lost,” says Arshad Suni, dealership head, Maruti Suzuki Arena, Chackai. Maruti Suzuki is one of, if not the most, preferred car brands of the middle-class.

“We have started on a positive note. We have around five to seven walk-ins to the showroom daily,” he adds. Maruti Suzuki dealers in Thiruvananthapuram collectively received 428 bookings till last week and 250 of them have been delivered. Arshad also affirms that people’s mindset in buying cars has changed drastically. “Earlier, a customer wanted to have a specific car in the colour of their choice. And they were even ready to wait for a few months for the car delivery. Now, they are willing to take any available car. This helps in clearing the cars which were unsold in March. People want to own a vehicle urgently as they are not comfortable in using public transport,” says Arshad.

Kishore L J, branch head, Rajasree Motors Mercedes-Benz, claims that families without a vehicle may soon buy a scooter or car. Even college students will avoid using public transportation facilities and travel on a bike or a car. “A person who regularly travelled in First Class AC coach from Thiruvananthapuram to Kochi may now prefer to travel by car. People will begin to drive for interstate travel. Safety being the priority of the people, car sales in the state will start accelerating soon,” he says.

Volkswagen, another preferred brand among car enthusiasts, has started its operations in the state with a few staff. “Since we are working with 30-50 per cent staff, the direct sale is yet to catch up,” says Hari Aravind, sales head, Volkswagen Thiruvananthapuram. “According to an internal survey conducted among techies in the state, around 20 per cent of them already have invested money in buying a new car. Cab services in IT parks will slowly begin to decline,” he says.

Private vehicle sales may boom
According to Samson Mathew, director, National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC), the state will soon witness a boom in the sale of cars and bikes. He says that it will take at least a year for the public transportation system to get back on track. “The last three months have been a bad season for the automobile sector. They will have to clear the stock including BS-IV vehicles. Even if the profit is cut down, all brands will come up with good offers. 

Based on the purchasing power, a family will choose a two-wheeler or a four-wheeler or upgrade their existing ones. We should pitch more on route-specific transportation facilities to bring back public transportation. People will prefer to commute on their vehicles until the virus scare is completely gone,” he adds.

Online sales catching up
With the government stressing on social distancing in all sectors, most car brands have introduced online bookings. “Once an enquiry is done, the car is taken to the customer’s house for a test drive and once booked, it is delivered to their houses after taking safety precautions,” says Kishore. According to Arshad, they received around 193 online enquiries last week. Volkswagen Thiruvanthapuram has received 12 online bookings after the operations resumed.