The sale of domestic passenger vehicles fell 51 per cent year-on-year to 1,43,014 units in March as manufacturers across segments halted production in the last week of the month because of the coronavirus pandemic. The industry is hopeful of some sops to be announced by the government in the coming days.

“According to our estimates at Siam, the auto industry is losing Rs 2,300 crore in production turnover for every day of closure,” Siam president Rajan Wadhera said, adding that the industry is in talks with the government for policy measures which could minimise the impact of Covid-19 on the economy, especially the auto industry.

The data showed that passenger car sales declined 52 per cent year-on-year in March to 85,229 units compared with 1,78,019 units a year ago. Utility vehicle sales declined by 45 per cent to 51,569 units from 93,206 units in the year-ago month.

The decline in the two segments led to a steep 51 per cent fall in passenger vehicles to 1,43,014 units against 2,91,861 units in March 2019.

In the two-wheeler segment, scooter and motorcycle sales declined 32 per cent and 42 per cent, respectively. Commercial vehicles sales were hit the most, plunging 88 per cent to just 13,027 units compared with 1,09,022 units a year ago.

Wadhera said the auto industry was already reeling under severe decline and the pressure of a disrupted supply chain, and this was followed by a majority of the auto companies announcing a shutdown of their manufacturing units in the last week of March.

“There would be challenges on the supply and demand side and also on the issue of availability of finance which would all need to be addressed to bring back growth in the sector. March was one of the most challenging month for the sector as the 21-day lockdown resulted in bringing the production and sales of vehicles to a standstill in the last week,” added Wadhera.