The Indian passenger vehicle was witnessing slump in sales even before the pandemic hit shores in March 2020. After the pandemic, the sector witnessed low to negative sales, low consumer trust and confidence and the added fear of the virus. The sudden declaration of the harsh lockdown in March 2020 till May 2020 aggravated the issue further. After May 2020 as the economy was gradually unlocking and most sectors were beginning to open up the study was timed between the period of March 2020 and August 2020. Unstructured textual data from online sources (micro blogging site Twitter, social media and digital media) were scrapped to understand the sentiment with respect to car buying when the lockdown was imposed and when the process of unlocking started. In the second stage, different strategies being adopted by car makers were analyzed and finally, the study concludes with how car buying will take place in a post-COVID world. Based on the analysis, factors that emerged as key to revival of car buying are facelift, spot test, voice bots, discounts, advertising and better financing options. The sentiments associated with these features as identified shall help marketers plan for effectively their market strategy.
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