The president of SIAM, who is also President, Automotive Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra, on inventory levels correcting, growth outlook and BS VI.

How much of a role is inventory correction playing in the industry slowdown, at this stage?
The economic performance measure is coming from the commercial vehicle sales, which is 60 percent down wholesale, and the retails are also substantially lower. That should tell you that it is not an inventory correction that is happening. In some segments, I agree that it must be inventory correction but very largely in the commercial vehicle segment, which is a mirror of the economy, and the economy is slowing down and since the automotive sector is also slowing down it is a genuine loss of sales.

According to you, the rest of the year seems difficult. How difficult could it be for the industry and within it for Mahindra & Mahindra?
Speaking for the entire industry, it will obviously be very difficult because when you are 30 percent down, profitability is a consequence of the volumes.

Has the current conditions affected BS IV to BS VI transition plans?
We cannot go on with the BS IV inventory and it is too early to transit to BS VI as the fuel is not available everywhere today. So this requires very fine balancing and that is exactly what we are grappling with.

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