India April 2020: Market stops to zero wholesales and retail sales

India is under a nationwide lockdown since March 23.

The entire 1.3 billion population of India is currently under the world’s strictest COVID-19 lockdown since March 23 and until at least May 18. All automotive factories have stopped production and all dealerships in the country are closed, and as a result there were zero new car wholesales and zero retail sales for the month, something that has never been recorded before. The year-to-date tally stays at 659.530 units and is now down -39.6% over the same period in 2019. This is the lowest volume at this stage of the year since 2009 (582.916).

Unfortunately five weeks into lockdown, the spread of the coronavirus is still accelerating in India, as the country recorded its highest daily new infections figures on May 1 (2.214), May 2 (2.442) and May 3 (2.806), which could mean the lockdown will be extended even further. The COVID-19 crisis is hitting Indian new car sales at an already vulnerable time: as of March 2020, 14 of the past 15 months were down year-on-year and Full Year 2019 wholesales receded by a sharp -12.3%. At this stage we at BSCB anticipate an Indian Full Year 2020 volume down -30% to 2.06 million units which would be the lowest annual score since 2009.

Previous month: India March 2020: COVID-19 lockdown sinks market down -51.1% to lowest March in 14 years, Maruti Baleno secures 2nd ever win

One year ago: India April 2019: Honda (+23.3%) stays afloat in steepest market loss in over 6 years (-16.4%)

Full April 2020 Top 25 All-brands and Top 85 models below.