VASCO
The Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) National President Vinkesh Gulati on Tuesday said a severe shortage of semiconductors had led to a drop in automobile manufacture by about 30-50 per cent, with the waiting period for vehicles ranging from 6 months to one year.
Gulati was speaking to reporters during his visit to Vasco in the presence of Prashant Joshi, President of Goa Automobile Dealers Association (GADA).
“The shortage of semiconductors (chips) began in the pandemic and it has affected not only vehicles but other electronic equipment at a time when the demand has boomed.”
“The shortage has hit the automobile industry severely since the last one year and has become worse in the last three months, with production of a major player and market leader like Maruti going down by 50 per cent in the last two months. The industrial production of different models and brands is down by around 30-40 per cent,” said Gulati.
Gulati said setting up of a semiconductor unit takes around two years, while the time frame for a semiconductor from order to delivery takes two months.
“We are in discussions with the government to get foreign players to set up a unit in the country,” he stated.
Meanwhile, given the acute shortage of vehicles, Gulati has appealed to customers not to be picky about the choice of variant or colour and to pick up any vehicle available in the showroom.
“If customers are interested in buying a vehicle and if the showroom does not have their choice of variant or colour, we suggest that they buy whatever vehicle is available. This is because, shortage of vehicles are likely to continue for the next 6-8 months, with waiting periods of around 2-3 months for a base model and around 6 months to a year for high-end models,” said Gulati.
