Car sales plunge yet again

PUNE: With no incentives from the government yet, and the continuing liquidity crisis and abject lack of consumer and market sentiment, passenger vehicle sales in India continue to head south for straight nine months.

In July, all car makers led by Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Mahindra and Mahindra, Toyota-Kirloskar Motor and Honda Cars reported negative sales.

The passenger vehicle dispatches from factory gates to dealerships are counted as sales in India.

“The passenger vehicle volumes are estimated to have declined by 27-31 per cent in July as compared to last year basis July sales performance of players like Maruti, M&M & Hyundai, which together have 75-77 per cent market share in terms of volume,” Hetal Gandhi, Director at Crisil Research, said.

She said the significant decline is observed as the OEMs have undertaken production cuts to rationalise inventory.

Sales at Maruti Suzuki fell a whopping 36.2 per cent last month at 96,478 units, down from 1,52,427 units it sold last year. All its passenger vehicle sub-segments are down in double digits.

Sales also dropped 10 per cent at Hyundai Motor at 39,010 cars, down from 43,481units it sold last year.

Similarly, Mahindra & Mahindra also reported 15 per cent less sales at 16,831 units last month, down from 19,781 units it sold in the same month last year.

Sales at Toyota-Kirloskar Motor also fell 24 per cent at 10,423 units as against 13,677 units sold in July last year.

Honda Cars, too reported a whopping 48.67 per cent less sales last month at 10,250 units, down from 19,970 units it sold in the same month last year.

However, new entrant MG Motor, a British brand owned by the Chinese has retailed 1,508 units of its first hot selling SUV the MG Hector last month.