Some key takeaways from the recommendations are such as continuation of FAME II for two more years, higher short-term booster incentives for consumers, support for in-house R&D & more.

In this interview with Rakesh Rao, Anurag Garg, MD & Country Head (India), Vitesco Technologies - formerly the Powertrain Division of Continental - discusses how auto component industry is coping with COVID pandemic and the growth plans of the company.

The last three months were difficult for the auto component industry while there is hope for a partial recovery with two- and three-wheeler market and exports. For long, the Indian automotive market experienced slowdown headwinds which were followed by Covid 19. In this article, This article discusses auto component industry challenges and the way ahead.

Indian Forging Industry depends on 60 per cent of its revenues from the domestic automotive industry. Automotive industry was hopeful for recovery with post introduction of BS VI from the slowdown but Coronavirus (Covid-19) has impacted on the recovery of the domestic market.

To fight novel coronavirus disease (Covid 2019), the government ordered a 21-day nation-wide lockdown, starting March 25.

As the auto industry makes a shift to the BS VI regime from April 1, auto makers were expected to liquidate the remaining BS IV inventory triggered by pre-buying in the last quarter of the fiscal year.

According to India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra), domestic automobile sales volume fell 19 per cent YoY (Year on Year) in February 2020, on lower consumer sentiments as original equipment manufacturers (OEM) continued the regulated wholesale billing to grapple with the effects of switching to Bharat Stage (BS) VI vehicles amid a low demand.

Auto sector is going through a tough time due to Covid-19 effects which has seen several shutdowns or limited operations across the nation.

The association will create a taskforce to evaluate the possibility of manufacturing facemasks, hand-sanitisers by component manufacturers.