Passenger car sales decline 3.4% in Nov

NEW DELHI: Domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales declined in November, the fourth monthly decline since July, as spike in interest rates and high fuel prices crimped consumer demand.

According to the latest data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam), PV) sales in November stood at 266,000 units as against 275,440 units in the year-ago month, down 3.43%.

PV sales had risen 1.55% in October, snapping three months of consecutive decline. In July, August and September PV sales have declined by 2.71%, 2.46% and 5.61%, respectively.

“We have been witnessing flat growth in PV sales for last couple of months due to factors like high interest rates and rising fuel prices. However, fuel prices have started to come down and we expect to see its positive impact going ahead,” Siam director general Vishnu Mathur told reporters.

In November, particularly, consumer sentiments remained low due to all these factors leading to a muted sales growth during the month, he added.

Mathur, however, said overall sales across various segments during the month remained robust. Vehicle sales across categories registered a rise of 5.03% to 2,038,015 units from 1,940,462 units in November 2017.

“Even during the April-November period of this fiscal, PVs have grown by 5 %, commercial vehicles by over 31%, threewheelers by over 21% and twowheelers by over 10%. So the overall sales growth during the period has been around 11%,” Mathur said.

He, however, admitted that it would be difficult to meet growth of 7-8% (earlier forecast) in the PV segment with just three months remaining in the current fiscal.

During the month, market leader Maruti Suzuki India posted a marginal decline in PV sales at 143,890 units. Rival Hyundai Motor India also reported marginal decline at 43,709 units.