Overview

The Indian automobile sector, which was already gasping for demand in FY20, saw business come to an absolute standstill when the country went under lockdown in the last week of March and continued for over a month.

The fourth largest automobile market in the world that sees sales of over 3.99 million units in the passenger and commercial vehicles categories was however one of the fastest sector to make its road to recovery driven by pent up demand and the need for personal mobility over public transportation as government started easing lockdown measures.

But a lot had changed in these months, the demand currently is being seen from tier-ii, tier-iii cities and rural-urban regions of the country. Other changes include the change in aftersales service and the demand for connected and electric cars. These changes are forcing automobile manufacturers and suppliers to change their supply-chain and in turn production cycle. Experts have said that the shortage in the availability of production staff has also forced grey clouds over the heads of first executives in several organisations.

And the only efficient and resilient way to surge out of this pandemic-driven crisis seems to be digitisation, especially in the face of changing consumer demands. Automotive OEMs and their suppliers will need to address current supply chain disruptions, production capacity issues and workforce constraints in the short, mid and longer term. All stakeholders in the sector need to take a critical look at strategies to increase operational efficiency and meet business continuity objectives, along with expanding digital tools and platforms.

Taking a different approach to digital transformation will be key to future success. This will require moving away from the traditional model of lengthy technology projects toward a more service-based approach that provides a quicker, smarter way to respond to changes in technology, the industry and the business.

Introducing the Reimagining Retail Round table – Respond, Recover and Innovate to Differentiate

Preparing for the ‘new normal’ will require a thorough review and reprioritization of current strategic roadmaps and investment efforts. The Economic Times Accelerating Automotive RT, powered by Itelligence, is an effort to understand and guide automotive industry stakeholders to identify challenges and opportunities during the new normal and showcase a roadmap that will lead to a new digital strategy with the aim of creating business resilience for the future.

The platform will look at key issues such as myriad challenges facing the auto sector today to discussing how present-day technologies can be used to unlock new opportunities. The discussion will also focus on building a secure yet simpler IT experience in order to form a mozette of its own.