Sept car sales fall 1%, industry bets on festive boost for demand growth

MOTOWN MATTERS

NEW DELHI: In a sign that the upcoming festive season may not be as cheerful as expected, sales of passenger cars declined for the first time in five months in September — breaking a sequence of growth for four straight months.

Passenger cars registered a decline of 1.03% to 1,54,882 units even as the overall passenger vehicle segment, which includes vans and utility vehicles, grew 3.26% to 2,23,568 units.

India’s medium-and-heavy commercial vehicle segment grew for the second month in a row to 19,035 units, up 23% over September 2013, signalling an increase in economic activity in the country (see graphic).

Industry experts, however, expressed hope that October, when bulk of the festive purchases

Category

Passenger cars

Sep-14

1,54,882

are made, would be way better.

“We are yet to see the full impact of the festive season and its effect should come this month. We think people have postponed their buys from September to October. Last year, festival season was negative but this time we hope it to be positive,”

said Vishnu Mathur, director-general, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.

The bigger cheer came from commercial vehicles (CVS), which is believed to be a barometer of the overall economy, where sales grew for the first time in 16 months.