Industry body Federation of Automotive Dealers Associations, fears job losses on account of the coronavirus pandemic could be higher than last year when over two lakh jobs were lost due to a prolonged slowdown in the automobile industry.
The association, however, said a clear picture would emerge only after the end of the month when it rolls out a survey on manpower plans.
“To really understand the indication of what kind of job losses we are staring at (due to Covid-19), it will only be (possible) after this month. April and May have been completely under lockdown. You can't really gauge what is the demand situation (now),” said Ashish Harsharaj Kale, president, FADA.
He, however, asserted cutting jobs is the last option that automobile dealers resort to.
“It is not easy for us to let go of our manpower as that is the most valuable resource. We train them over many years and they gradually rise through in our organisations. That is the last call we take. Inventory would be the first call we take and other variables expenses, manpower would be the last,” Kale said.
No dealerships have yet been closed, according to Kale.
“In the dealership business, as we are traders, the decisions are not so sudden. For us, one good thing is that the service business is slowly coming back. A dealer will not take a call so soon on whether he wants to exit his business or if he wants to survive based on the current demand and financials,” Kale said.
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