Car, Two-wheeler Sales In October Plunge Despite Festival Season

Amid a slow economic recovery and high interest rates, the much-talked-about festive season failed to trigger demand for cars in October as sales declined for the second consecutive month. This has, further, raised concerns that the industry may see a third straight year of declines.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said on Monday that Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor and other car companies sold a combined 1,59,036 vehicles last month, registering a drop of 2.55% from 1,63,199 units in October 2013.

Overall domestic auto sales fell by 4% to 17.87 lakh vehicles last month, pummeled by a sharp 9% decline in bike dispatches, turning negative for the first time since December 2013, when a 4.24% fall was registered.

According to Sugato Sen, SIAM deputy director-general, "This year, the festival season has been subdued as compared to last year. If we don't see some real growth in economic activity and some relief in the high interest rates on automotive financing that could improve customers' sentiment, we might not see automobile sales going up in the coming months."

Notably, Sen declined to provide a forecast, although SIAM had earlier estimated a 5-10% growth in passenger vehicle sales in the current financial year.

Following declines in 2012-13 and 2013-14, car sales in the country had increased every month from May to August. In September, however, automobile sales dropped by 1.03%.
(Image: Maruti Suzuki)