The Indian auto market, particularly the passenger car segment, has faced a prolonged stint of declining sales. With top companies proclaiming major impacts on their businesses, it seems that there is more to come by. Vikram Kirloskar, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Vice-Chairman, has reportedly said that sentiment of people is preventing them from investing a high amount in car purchases. “The last 12 months for automobile sector has been a steady decline...it has been an extremely tough year, in our various sectors - especially the commercial vehicles have been hard hit. I think also generally in the manufacturing sector it has been a pretty hard 12 months,” he said. The statement from Kirloskar came while he attended an event that was organised to announce the 3rd edition of India Manufacturing Show in Bangalore. Giving more insight, he mentioned that it was mostly sentiment that was preventing people invest money in buying cars and washing machines. He added that things are little bit at a flat level for the auto industry of India.
Kirloskar pointed out that current GDP growth of 4-4.5 per cent is certainly not enough for the automobile industry to flourish. He stressed that it should be rather 6.5-7 or 8 per cent for good times to return. Kirloskar, also the President of automobile industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), confirmed his belief in the potential of Indian market. He suggested, “If I look at quality, cost and delivery- with my experience- in these key areas it possible to get competitive, provided we concentrate on people, skill development and our process that adheres to concentration on quality.” The onus to get an upper hand on the current situation needs to be fulfilled by both, government and auto companies, working in tandem towards a common goal. A collaborative effort will see the auto market sail through these tough and testing times.
A well-known figure in the Indian automobile fraternity, Kirloskar had pretty strong suggestions for entities within the industry, calling them on to stand up to adversities. He highlighted that only way out is through hard and persistent work while being competitive and delivering best in quality, cost-effective and timely services. He also mentioned that the auto company too has to do self-check in order to dig out a viable strategy for the Indian passenger car market. In similar context, Kirloskar rightly mentioned, “How do we serve market in India with right product, quality...as well as how do we look at factory India where we can export to the whole world. We have to look at both.”
