As many as six automobile majors have reported a 44-72% drop in export volumes from Chennai Port Trust (ChPT) and the Kamarajar Port Ltd. (KPL) in 2020 following the pandemic.
The two major ports that recorded shipments of more than 3.5 lakh vehicles in 2019, saw the volumes plunge to 2.41 lakh units in 2020 as exports from Renault Nissan, Ford, Toyota Kirloskar, Dailmer India, Hyundai Motor and Nissan Motor plunged.
However, Ashok Leyland posted a 62% rise in export volumes, while Honda and Isuzu Motors also reported a significant increase in exports on account of the low base, from KPL in 2019.
“We have been handling over 1.60 lakh units for the last few years and we should have crossed the two-lakh mark last year, but for the pandemic,” said Sunil K. Paliwal, CMD, KPL.
“The pandemic affected our performance during 2020. We hope to do better with the latest addition of new entrants such as Kia Motors and others,” said P. Raveendran, chairman, ChPT. “Though most of the auto majors have moved to nearby Kamarajar Port, Hyundai, has been using our port as export base for over 2 decades,” he added.
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