India’s largest automobile industry Maruti Suzuki expects demand to shift towards lower priced cars in the post-lockdown.
Apart from new car sales in different segments, Honda feels that customers would also consider certified used car sales and lower priced cars in the post-lockdown scenario. Maruti Suzuki, Honda, Tata Motors and Toyota expect demand for personal vehicles to go up in the country to avoid public transportation due to fear associated with Covid-19.
“People will prefer personal vehicles over public transport and it comes out from different consumer surveys which we have conducted,” MSI Executive Director, Marketing and Sales, Shashank Srivastava told PTI.
With economic activity slowing down, impacting buying power of consumers, demand will shift towards lower priced or smaller vehicles in personal mobility space, he added.
“So the shift is expected towards smaller cars and first-time buyers. We are already witnessing this trend in around 1,800 dealerships which we have been able to re-open in the past few days,” Srivastava said.
Current trends show that consumers are attracted towards brands with established names during stress periods. And also personal mobility will gain much more significance than shared mobility or public transportation, and hence can contribute to sales.
Apart from brand new cars, customers would also consider certified car sales as they can afford a well-maintained nice-looking car at affordable prices.
A Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) spokesperson said fear of disease, social distancing and need to maintain hygiene will shape consumer behaviour post-lockdown and may drive some segments of consumers towards personal mobility and move them away from public transport.
“This shift is likely to be both for the day to day intra-city as well as intercity travel, hence depending on many factors like mobility requirement, ability to spend, it is anticipated that increase in demand may be seen in some segments and not just be restricted to entry level segment,” the spokesperson said.
However, it must be kept in mind that on overall basis the consumer sentiment currently is quite subdued and may remain so unless some demand creation measures are introduced by the government as well as the industry, the spokesperson added.
Similarly, a Tata Motors spokesperson said that the coronavirus pandemic has brought about a significant change in the perspective regarding transportation usage.
“Due to the impact of Covid-19 and the implication of strict physical distancing norms, we anticipate that there will be a considerable decrease in the use of public transport and shared mobility,” the spokesperson said.
The demand for personal mobility will increase due to customers’ need to ensure personal safety, the spokesperson added.
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.
