Post lockdown period likely to see a surge in car purchases; pent up demand, first time buyers to drive growth: survey
India, with a penetration rate of 23 cars per 1000 population, might see a V-shape recovery like China once the lockdown opens up with pent up demand and first-time buyers driving the industry, said a survey conducted by carandbike, India's leading auto content and commerce, in association with Brandscapes Worldwide released in May 2020. With social distancing becoming the new norm in the coming years, the ride sharing industry will likely slow down and personal transport will become the need of the hour.
According to this survey titled 'The Changing Gears!', The Impact of COVID-19 on the Auto Industry - nearly 75% of the consumers want to buy a vehicle once the lockdown lifts, with 66% of consumers who had made inquiries prior to the lockdown, going ahead with their decision to purchase cars within 3 months post lockdown.
The survey states that though the dynamics of the market might have changed, the intent to purchase a vehicle has not faded post the pandemic. Around 72% of consumers who enquired about new cars will go ahead with their purchases post lockdown, while 77% of those who made enquiries for used cars will buy them, with only 18% of consumers not going ahead with the purchase.
The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down economies around the world as a result of which, people are on a saving mode, revising their budgets for new purchases. The survey says that enquiries for cars above INR 7 lakh significantly dropped, while demand for cars under INR 3 lakh has picked up significantly during lockdown. Category wise, the overall demand for SUVs remains the highest in both the new and pre-owned space, with the enquiries for Sedans picking up by 10% during lockdown.
Among prospective buyers who have changed their choice of cars due to the economic instability, 4 out of 10 people attributed the decision to reduced budgets - most of them having reduced their budgets by 10-30%.
The survey was conducted in April 2020 among 1000+ in market customers of carandbike and 100+ dealers of pre-owned and new cars to get a bird's eye view of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the Indian auto sector. Backed by extensive primary and secondary research, cities covered as part of the survey are Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Indore.
This is the only study in India which has been done so extensively covering the micro and macro scenarios of both new and used cars and bikes post lock down. Online questionnaires and telephonic interviews were conducted to follow all social distancing rules.
DISCLAIMER: This information is published as per the press release sent to us. It has not been verified or ratified by OVERDRIVE.
