Mahindra domestic passenger vehicle sales down 88 percent in March 2020

Mahindra and Mahindra has just reported domestic passenger vehicle sales of 3,384 units in March 2020. The low number represents an 88 percent decline when compared to March 2019 sales. Like all other players in the Indian automotive market, Mahindra too has been deeply impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

Commenting on the performance, Veejay Ram Nakra, Chief Executive Officer, Automotive Division, M&M Ltd. said, “Our performance in March has been muted on account of the impact of the current lockdown related to Covid-19 and the disruption in our BS6 ramp-up plan. The latter was planned between February and March but was affected due to the challenges of parts supply from global and local suppliers.”

Nakra also commented on Mahindra’s BS4 vehicle inventory. “We have been able to clear our BS4 inventory, but for fewer than 100 vehicles. However, there are many vehicles that are sold, but not yet registered because of the closure of RTOs.” Nakra said.

The dismal sales in March 2020 also weighed heavily on Mahindra’s cumulative domestic passenger vehicle sales numbers for FY20. Mahindra sold 1,86,978 units over FY20, down 27 percent on FY19’s figure of 2,54,701 units.

Mahindra does have a busy FY21 with the launches of the new Thar and XUV500, and the roll-out of its new mStallion petrol engine family. However, it’s the ever popular Mahindra Bolero, launched in updated BS6 avatar only recently, that could be the model that gets things moving once order is restored.