India at cusp of reaching 3rd position globally in passenger vehicles: FADA

New Delhi, Dec 31 (KNN) As the year 2020 have been unexpected for every business be it a corporate or Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) followed by COVID-19 pandemic which has put economy to a standstill, Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations of India (FADA) president, Vinkesh Gulati is optimistic for automobile dealers from the coming year and believed that India will reach 3rd position globally in passenger vehicles.

As the year draws to a close, he believes that the worst is now behind us and the entire ecosystem now needs to make collective efforts in reviving the economy.

''We are a resilient Industry and automobiles remain an aspirational purchase. Despite the current challenges, we are now at the cusp of entering exciting times as India will once again increase its momentum to achieve the 3rd position globally in the PV segment as the entire Industry will work towards achieving this goal,” Gulati said in a statement.

“2020 was an unprecedented year for the entire world and Indian Auto Industry was not left untouched. While the Government is keeping an eye on limiting the spread of COVID, Pharma companies are making all possible efforts to roll out the Vaccine. All these efforts will be pivotal in bringing economy back on track,'' he added.

He further mentioned that even before COVID, auto sales were slowing for the entire year of FY19-20.

''For the first time in history, we saw zero sales in April’20 but since unlocking began, we are also witnessing one of the best V Shaped recoveries aided by good monsoon, better harvest, festive demand and marriage season, though on a yearly basis there is still some de-growth. Tractors have particularly done well thus showing Bharat kept India moving. Lately we have seen good pent up demand in Passenger Vehicles and hopefully it will stay as safer mobility due to COVID and new launches in the new year will keep the demand going,'' he avowed.

While the Industry will witness an overall de-growth of around 20-25 per cent on FY basis, things will start looking better beginning April aided by lower base of last year, FADA president hoped.

He further said that COVID has taught us to make tough choices to ensure our dealerships survive. Decisions such as rightsizing, financial prudence and adapting to the new normal were difficult but have eventually resulted in robust business models and improved efficiency.