NEW DELHI: Car sales in India dipped 8% last month marking a full year of continuous decline, with no respite from the slowing demand that forced customers to postpone any fresh purchases.
The slump after the festive season led to decline across as segment said industry body, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers’ (SIAM) which expects any turnaround in the automotive market only after a new government is formed after the general elections scheduled next year.
“This is one of the longest negative streak of the Indian auto industry. All the segments except two wheelers are negative and going through a challenging phase. The sluggish market conditions in the current economic conditions have forced potential customers to delay their purchases and we are not expecting any revival in growth only after the general elections of 2014,” SIAM’s deputy director general Sugato Sen told reporters in Delhi.
As per the SIAM data all major carmakers posted negative sales. In November the market leader Maruti Suzuki India posted 4% decline in its domestic sales to 71,649 cars while rivalHyundai Motor India sales also dipped 4% to 33,427 units last month. Tata Motors saw its car sales drop by a larger 42% to 7,910 units in November as against.
The only silver lining was the two wheeler segment which remained positive. As per the SIAM figures, total two-wheeler sales in November grew by 6% to 12.40 lakh units, largely propelled by scooter sales that stood at 3,05,586 units, up 25%v from last year’s 2,44,414 units sold in domestic market last year.
Market leader Hero MotoCorp posted 6% growth to 5.20 lakh units in November while rival Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India posted 46% growth in its bikes and scooter sales to 3.06 lakh units in November last year. Bajaj Auto saw its bike sales decline by 28% to 1,62,616 units as compared to 2,27,186 units sold in the year-ago month.
Source: India Times
