- According to data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, India’s Auto sales of passenger vehicles fell 31.6 percent year-on-year to 196,524 units in August.
- The automobile industry going through one of the worst times has witnessed the biggest monthly decline in the sales of cars and utility vehicles.
The automobile industry going through one of the worst times has witnessed the biggest monthly decline in the sales of cars and utility vehicles. The worst plunge in the sector in almost two decades shows no signs of slowing down amid the slowdown in the Indian economy.
According to data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, India’s Auto sales of passenger vehicles fell 31.6 percent year-on-year to 196,524 units in August. This is the worst decline since 1997-98 when SIAM recording Data.
Here are some of the points from the auto sales data of August by SIAM-
- The car sales fell to 41.1 percent over the last year to 1,15,957 units domestically.
- The two-wheelers sales declined 22.24 percent to 1,514,196 units.
- Medium and Heavy commercial vehicles dropped 54.3 percent to 15,573 units.
- Sales of total commercial vehicles, including light commercial vehicles and goods carriers, fell 38.7 percent to 51,897 units.
India’s Auto Sales of passenger vehicles also fell 23.54 percent over the year-ago period to 1,109,930 units in the first five months of the ongoing financial year.
Image Credit – autoportal.com
The automobile sector is one of the most important part of the Indian economy which is third-largest in Asia, employing millions of people directly or indirectly and contributing more than 7 percent to the nation’s gross domestic product. The decline in auto sales started from last year Diwali.
This fall has forced the companies to lay-off contract workers, temporary helpers and dealership to shut showrooms.
On August 23, The government announced several measures to increase auto sales, which included clarity about vehicles before the new emission standards, deferral of revision of one-time registration fee till June 2020 and lifting a freeze on government departments, urging them to buy new vehicles.
Although these measures will boost sentiment in the near term, the automakers need more support in order to revive the sales.
Guenter Butschek, chief executive officer and managing director at Tata Motors Ltd., last week said while some of the government’s incentives have addressed issues such as liquidity, its effectiveness is yet to be felt as consumers have postponed buying hoping for a GST rate cut on cars.
“We need clarity from the government now,” Butschek told. If the auto slowdown lasts longer, the industry will be forced to compromise on the future growth, he said.
Recently, Managing Director of Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Pawan Goenka commented on the situation of poor auto sales leading to thousands job said that next fear is of suppliers and dealers going bankrupt if the this continues and the upcoming festival season turns out to be slow in terms of demands.
