Over the past few months, there is a narrative among car buyers through some Youtube videos and agenda bloggers that Maruti Suzuki is losing their solid 55% market share in the car market. It is seen that it has been mearge 36%, 44% and 45% in the last 3 months but that doesn't explain the reality.

Reality of Situation

The reality is that total of 7 Lakhs customers are waiting for their cars from different brands. Maruti alone has 2.5 lakh customers waiting for their customers for the cars like S-Presso, Wagon R, Brezza, Baleno, Swift, Dzire, and Ciaz which grab the major chunk of the sales and remain in demand because of their VFM quotient for a common buyer.

Other successful car brands like Hyundai, Tata, Mahindra, and Kia have more than 1 Lakh customers waiting for their cars. Similarly, other brands like Toyota, VW, Skoda, and Nissan have over 75000 customers waiting in total.

Reason for Delay

The reason for the delay in the deliveries and long waiting periods going up to 18 months is the global semiconductor shortage which has disrupted the supply chain management. As cars have become electronic heavy with features like ADAS, Cameras, Sunroof, Digital Cockpits, Infotainment screens, and sensors, it has made life for the OEMs a lot tougher and they have shifted to plan B to retain their customers.

OEMs have started omitting some vital features and are prioritizing delivery for top variants first to manage customers and profits at the same time. Base models of cars like Astor and XUV 700 are seeing up to 24 months waiting time. 

Situation of Skoda Auto Volkswagen

Skoda Auto Volkswagen managed to get priority allocation for chips from headquarters due to new launches, but it's not getting enough supplies yet to start a third production shift, which had been planned for November. Gurpratap Boparai, MD of Skoda Auto Volkswagen India, said the group is looking at significant growth in 2022 and it will be adding a third shift shortly.