BackMG Motor India reports retail sales of 710 units in May
The SAIC Motor Corp-owned carmaker had resumed production at its Halol manufacturing unit with 30% capacity utilisation in the last week of April. The company said nearly 65% of its retail showrooms and service stations are operational
PremiumMUMBAI: After reporting nil retail sales in April, MG Motor India Pvt Ltd said it sold 710 cars in May amid supply chain constraints and dealerships resuming operations partially.
The SAIC Motor Corp-owned carmaker had resumed production at its Halol (Gujarat) manufacturing unit with 30% capacity utilisation in the last week of April. The company said nearly 65% of its retail showrooms and service stations across the country are operational albeit with reduced manpower.
“Supply chain disruption coupled with stricter credit financing along with non-operation of some dealerships due to the lockdown have impacted our sales in May. With the production loss notwithstanding, our front-end retail operations continue to operate with less-than-normal staff," said Rakesh Sidana, director, sales, MG Motor India.
“All of our vehicles' stocks across channels and dealership inventory are BS-VI (Bharat Stage-VI) units," he said.
Sidana said the company hopes to restore normalcy from July as the sales and marketing teams are connected to the customers waiting for delivery of Hector sports utility vehicle (SUV).
Speaking at Mint’s Pivot or Perish webinar last month, Rajeev Chaba, managing director (MD) at MG Motor India had said the Centre will have to help the automotive industry to revive its revenues relating to temporary cuts in the goods and services tax (GST) imposed on vehicles.
The auto industry’s contribution to the government’s GST mop-up is pegged at ₹15 lakh crore or about 15% of the total collections. Chaba had pointed out that the decline in volume of vehicles sold in the domestic market will have a proportional bearing on the government’s revenues.
The top company executive had also said operating at 25-30% capacity along with reduced efficiency due to adherence to new social distancing norms is not sustainable in the long term.
“The operational cost is a huge issue. I think in the next three-four months we need to think of a way to start operating (efficiently)," he had said.
MG Motor India, as part of its phase-two expansion, plans to introduce its electric SUV, ZS EV, in six new cities including Pune, Surat, Cochin, Chandigarh, Jaipur, and Chennai from June 2020. With this expansion, the ZS EV will be available for sales across 11 cities in India.
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