India´s car industry not expecting a quick recovery

India's leading association of auto dealers said Monday that sales will take longer to recover than after the first wave of COVID-19 infections last year as the virus spreads to villages and smaller towns. Auto sales, particularly automobiles and sport utility vehicles (SUVs), have rallied sharply over the past year as buyers rushed to buy private vehicles for safety and social distance. With the infections now spreading to rural areas, a recovery is likely to take longer, said the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA). The association said it doesn't expect sales to return to their March 2019 peak until fiscal 2023 - around two years from now. India's daily infection numbers are close to a record high as the second wave of COVID-19 spreads from hard-hit cities like New Delhi and Mumbai to rural areas where nearly 70% of its 1.3 billion population live but where the public Health care is limited. Many states put tight lockdowns in the last month, while other states restricted people's freedom of movement and closed cinemas, restaurants, pubs and malls. "India is currently facing one of its toughest times with the second wave of COVID, which is upsetting everyone's life," said FADA President Vinkesh Gulati. FADA said new vehicle registrations, including cars, SUVs, motorcycles and trucks, were 28% lower in April than in March and that sales in May would remain sluggish as some lockouts extended until the end of the month were. Consumer sentiment in the first nine days of May was "extremely weak" with most parts of the country partially or completely locked, according to FADA. The association said that even where car dealerships are open, walk-in numbers have dropped to 30% of normal and many are delaying their purchasing decisions. Most automakers, including Maruti Suzuki Ltd, India's top-selling automaker, and Hero MotoCorp, the country's largest motorcycle maker, have extended plant closings to May 16 as cases have become spiked.