Pent up demand, a favourable monsoon and other seasonal trends have contributed to a rapid recovery of India’s new vehicle market. As 2021 draws near, efforts will turn to sustaining those volumes amid a possible second wave of COVID-19.

Automakers have largely gone without state aid during the nationwide lockdown enforced in March, which was gradually ‘unlocked’ between June and October. It is an indication of just how quickly the market has rebounded, and India’s automakers are already laying out plans for growth between 2021 and 2023.

Plans centre on revamped portfolios to cater for a growing appetite for compact SUVs, new subscription and leasing plans that make car ownership more accessible, and the early stages of an electric revolution.

Weathering the storm

As restrictions gradually loosened and cars began rolling off production lines once more, automakers took sales online. It is a digitalisation process that had already been slowly filtering in—the pandemic simply accelerated efforts.

“There are several factors that have led to this leasing and subscription model, which is now being offered by nearly every automaker,” said Shailesh Chandra, President of Tata Motors’ Passenger Vehicles Business Unit. Subscriptions can…