Passenger Cars Sales Stand At Lowest In 18 Years

by Harish Kumar | 15/06/2019
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The Indian passenger vehicles have witnessed a significant sales dip of 20.5% in May 2019, falling at the lowest level since 2001.

The Indian automobile industry is seeing a massive sales slump in almost 18 years. According to a recent report by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, the passenger vehicle sales fell by 20.55 per cent in May 2019, posting the sharpest decrease ever in the past 18 years. The primary reason behind the big slump is believed to be manufacturers’ slow production as well as the lacks of the consumers’ sentiments. Back in September 2001, the auto industry also witnessed a similar cutback in sales of around 21.91 per cent.

maruti dzire blue front three quarters

The sale of passenger vehicles is going downhill in the last quarter of the fiscal year with a 20.55 % decline in May 2019.

Within the 20.55 per cent sales decline of the passenger vehicles, the sales of passenger four-wheelers, vans and utility vehicle dropped by 26.98%, 27.55 % and 5.64 %, respectively, in May as compared to those of the same period a year ago. The overall industry produced a total of 25.5 Lakh units that include passenger and commercial vehicles, two-wheelers, three-wheelers along with quadricycle. That means a fall of 7.97 per cent as compared to a total of 27.3 Lakh vehicles produced during the same period of 2018, according to SIAM’s report.

maruti baleno maruti swift hyundai elite i20

The total vehicle productions also dropped sharply by 7.97 per cent in May compared to that of the same period last year.

The segment of commercial vehicles (CV) reported a considerable decline of 10.49 % in terms of sales in May 2019 while that of the medium and heavy CVs plummeted by 18.08 per cent compared to the same year-ago period. The LCVs (light commercial vehicles) also witnessed a sales slump of 4.84 per cent, and the sales of three-wheelers fell by 9.44 per cent last month. Also, the overall two-wheelers sales figures went down by 7.11 per cent last month as against that of May 2018.

Also Read - India’s Passenger Vehicles Sales Dip 17 Percent In April 2019

Virtually all automobile companies had undergone a big drop in their profit during the fourth quarter of FY2019. India’s leading auto manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki reported a 4.6 % profit loss for the Q4 of the fiscal year 2019 though gaining a growth of 1.4 % in revenue. That comes in the face of high discounts to raise customers’ interest as well as the disadvantageous currency movement. Its total profits for the full fiscal year also fell by 3 % over a 5.4 % increase in revenue.

The slowdown in the country’s automotive industry was being believed as a result of the recently-held elections as well as some serious Government’s intervention in the safety and emission standards. Carmakers are hoping to see some revival in demand during the second half of the fiscal year thanks to customers’ pre-purchasing orientation ahead of vehicle prices hike on account of the BSVI rollout.

Be updated on the latest car news in India by visiting our website  IndianAuto.com

Also Read - India’s sub-four-metre sedans registered 12% sales growth in FY 2019

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