Automakers log dip in fleet sales in July-Sept quarter amid coronavirus pandemic

Leading passenger automobile producers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor, and Toyota Kirloskar Motor have witnessed sharp drop in fleet gross sales within the July-September interval amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The fleet section gross sales have fallen through the interval beneath evaluate as folks had been choosing private mobility choices at the price of shared and public transport as a way to keep distance within the occasions of the pandemic.

“There has been extreme aversion on the part of customers against shared mobility and public transport and they are obviously looking at personal transport. If we look at the figures in our portfolio, fleet sales which include shared mobility, in the second quarter there was a drop of 69 per cent,” Maruti Suzuki India Executive Director (Sales and Marketing) Shashank Srivastava mentioned.

Taking into consideration the April-September interval, the drop in fleet gross sales is 77 per cent as in contrast with final yr, he added.

“As a result in our portfolio, fleet sales which stood at 7 per cent last year (contribution to total sales) have fallen to 2.4 per cent this year,” Srivastava mentioned.

The auto main affords Tour vary of variants throughout hatchback, sedan, van and MPV segments for business use in fashions like Alto, WagonR, Celerio, Eeco, TourS and Ertiga.

Hyundai Motor India, which sells its compact sedan Xcent within the fleet section, has additionally seen gross sales dwindle within the section publish Covid-19.

“The demand has shifted from shared mobility to personal segment so obviously the fleet segment has been impacted. Many financiers are also finding it tough, they are not sure about the future business of this segment so they are also becoming strict so the market for the fleet segment has come down,” Hyundai Motor India Director (Sales, Marketing and Service) Tarun Garg mentioned.

There isn’t any impression on the general gross sales as the private section has greater than made for the loss, he added.

“We continue to monitor the situation. It may be a short-term phenomena, the shared mobility segment has done so well in the global markets. It may start doing better here as well in future once the pandemic is over,” Garg famous.

The firm, nonetheless, didn’t share absolute numbers.

Similarly, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) mentioned it has additionally seen institutional gross sales of Innova Crysta drop through the second quarter.

“The fleet segment is very badly hit. It has literally come to a standstill. People are just not willing to sit in taxis and shared cars. It is a very challenging scenario. There is a dip of 15-20 per cent in the taxi segment alone as compared with the year-ago period,” TKM Senior Vice President (Sales and Service) Naveen Soni mentioned.

The institutional gross sales of Innova Crysta, which embrace taxi, company, and authorities gross sales altogether, have gone down by 65.72 per cent to 1,386 models within the July-September quarter this yr as in contrast with 4,044 models within the year-ago interval, the corporate mentioned. According to information up to date by the union well being ministry on Saturday, India’s Covid-19 caseload has mounted to 84,62,080.