Auto industry hopes for smooth ride in 2022

New Delhi: The Indian automotive industry is driving into 2022 with a positive mindset in its quest to reach the pre-pandemic levels of sales volume, having built a solid foundation in 2021 amid semiconductor shortage hampering production.

With demand still buoyant in the passenger vehicle segment despite challenges of commodity price increases, many automobile manufacturers are upbeat to embrace new technologies, especially in the electric mobility space which is expected to witness a slew of launches in both four- and two-wheeler categories in the coming year.

Although the Omicron variant of Covid is still a concern for many automakers, they feel that the learnings from the past two years will come handy in carrying out business, having adopted digitisation in large scale, even if there were to be a third wave.

In an interaction with PTI, Maruti Suzuki India Chairman R C Bhargava expressed hope that 2022 would pan out to be better for the industry as compared to 2021.

“This year, we had a lot of production loss due to shortage of semiconductors. I think the situation will be much better in 2022,” he said, adding the economy is going to grow faster, which is again a positive factor. While acknowledging that 2021 has turned out to be a very challenging year for the industry, SIAM Director General Rajesh Menon also expressed hope for a better churn in the coming year.

Sharing the optimism, Tata Motors President, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit, Shailesh Chandra said, “Looking ahead, we expect the demand for passenger ICE and electric vehicles to remain strong even as concerns about the supply of semiconductors and high input costs continue.”

Mahindra & Mahindra Executive Director (Auto and Farm Sectors) Rajesh Jejurikar noted that overall, the industry has been through a tremendous learning curve.

“I feel these learnings will stand us in good stead as we move forward,” he added.

Yet, Honda Cars India President and CEO Gaku Nakanishi said the outlook for 2022 remains “cautiously optimistic owing to concerns about constant rise in the cost of raw material as well as supplyside constraints”.

A Hyundai spokesperson noted: “We are cautiously optimistic as the government has undertaken a gamut of initiatives to promote inve s t m e n t s and growth in the entire manufacturing valuechain in India.” -(PTI)