Lockdowns likely to affect business in short-term: MRF
“Industries have learned to work with lockdowns, though in many cases businesses have been affected adversely. Lockdowns have affected our business also and we are hoping that demand for tyres will pick up now that the lockdowns have been lifted,” he wrote.
Stating that automobile companies had also cut down their production during the lockdowns, Mammen said, “They appear to be getting back to normalcy after the lifting of the lockdown. There is some amount of uncertainty as to how demand will be for vehicles going forward in the months ahead”.
The company’s latest annual report said the prospects for the automobile industry have been impacted by the COVID-19 second wave, just when things started looking better.
“As per FADA, vehicle registrations have declined by 28 per cent in April 2021. Factory shutdowns have been extended. The impact in rural areas also is seen to be more in the second wave, affecting in particular two-wheeler demand,” the report said.
It further said, “In view of the second wave of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns imposed by various state governments in the first quarter of the financial year 2021-2022, the business is expected to be affected in the short term”.
