COVID-19 deals new blow to foreign carmakers’ Indian dream

Carmakers that saw nearly a decade of Indian sales growth wiped out in 2020 are expecting a bounce back in demand this year. But it is likely to be led by small, affordable cars - a sector dominated by homegrown leader Maruti Suzuki and rival Hyundai - rather than the premium models churned out by most foreign manufacturers, industry executives and analysts say.

Reuters
June 18, 2021 / 02:52 PM IST

Source: Reuters


Foreign automakers' hopes of a booming Indian car market are fading fast as a brutal second wave of COVID-19 infections and limited government room for more stimulus spending suggest a recovery could lag far behind China and the United States.


Carmakers that saw nearly a decade of Indian sales growth wiped out in 2020 are expecting a bounce back in demand this year.

But it is likely to be led by small, affordable cars - a sector dominated by homegrown leader Maruti Suzuki and rival Hyundai - rather than the premium models churned out by most foreign manufacturers, industry executives and analysts say.

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COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

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How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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