The COVID-19 pandemic turned out to be a nightmare for every industry. Every sector was severely impacted by the crisis with massive losses. Even the automobile industry took a backseat during the pandemic with the sales of cars going down to the dust. However, the impact was momentary as the sale of cars saw an upward trend. Enlightening about the rise in sales of cars from 2020, Karan Asrani of Krishna Group shares his views about the prospects.
The Mumbai-based entrepreneur has been in the industry for nearly about two decades. His dealership outlet has a tie-up with leading automobile brands like Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Mahindra First Choice and MyTVS. Started working during his teenage, Karan Asrani has a thorough knowledge of the automotive industry.
Looking at the market trends, Mr. Asrani foresees that commercial vehicles will have an upper hand over passenger vehicles. As the market situation after the pandemic is in a much better state, Karan Asrani feels that the government has increased its pace to complete different projects that include the construction of roads, state and national highways.
Speaking about it, he revealed, “I had earlier stated that the BJP government is completing the project of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway which stretches till 1350 km. This 8-lane wide expressway will witness a growth of commercial vehicles minimum of 40%. Furthermore, Mr. Asrani gave an insight into the inventory that Krishna Group had before 2020.
Earlier before the pandemic, the inventory at Krishna Group was approximately 90 to 120 days. “Along with us, many other dealers were stressed about the interest being charged on inventory. In addition, paying the rent with having no sales and only distributing salaries was quite challenging for the car dealers across the country”, Karan added.
Not to forget, the lockdown even dismantled the global supply chain after almost five decades. The automobile industry, in general, had a hard time when there was a lack of semiconductor chips globally. The supply fell flat and the demand went on to rise with overseas logistics playing a crucial role.
Fortunately, with the market recovering at a gradual pace, the cars available for sale are less in comparison to the purchases. On a concluding note, Karan expressed his joy about car dealers being back in the game. “The latest example is of Mahindra & Mahindra’s Scorpio-N which clocked more than a hundred thousand bookings within the first 30 minutes”, said Mr. Asrani while signing off.
