TVS sales drop by 55 per cent in March majorly due to COVID-19 lockdown

- TVS reports a 55 per cent drop in its overall sales in March 2019

- National lockdown due to the spread of Coronavirus had a major impact

- TVS has successfully completed the BS6 transition

The ongoing national lockdown which started last month in order to suppress the spread of COVID-19 pandemic has massively affected several two-wheeler manufacturers. The temporary suspension of sales and manufacturing has paralysed several businesses, not only in India but across the globe. Exemplifying the same effect of Coronvirus is TVS’ overall sales in March 2020 which has tumbled 55 per cent as compared to the same month last year. 

Domestic sales and exports combined, TVS dispatched 144,739 units last month which was down from 325,323 units in March 2019. While this includes three-wheelers and two-wheelers both, the sales of the latter witnessed a decrement of 57 per cent, slipping from 310,885 units in March 2019 to 133,988 units in the same month this year. 

Considering domestic two-wheeler sales only, the company saw a downfall of 62 per cent as compared to the corresponding month last year. Moreover, TVS’ total exports (including three-wheelers and two-wheelers) also registered a year-on-year drop of 34 per cent in March 2020. 

On a positive note, TVS Motor Company announced that it has successfully completed the BS6 transition with nearly all of its BS4-compliant models being already sold out from its dealerships. This puts the Hosur-based bike maker in a much better position than several other brands who are left with unsold BS4 inventory. What helped TVS’ case is the fact it started rolling out BS6-compliant models in Q3 of FY2019-20, much before the 1 April 2020 deadline.