The Indian automobile industry, which grew at the rate of 15 to 27 per cent in the past five years, is facing numerous challenges now due to shrinking of demand, SIAM President Ravi Kant said today.
"Today the Indian automotive industry is facing unprecedented challenges. On one hand, the demand is shrinking due to lack of available consumer finance, high interest rates and high cost of fuel," Kant said at the annual convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
"On the other hand, cost of input material has witnessed massive increases," he added.
In the last two years, prices of steel, copper and natural rubber have gone up tremendously, affecting various segments of the automobile industry significantly, Kant said.
"Therefore, I would like to ask the government to take a note of the deteriorating health of the industry and take corrective measures so that objectives of the Automotive Mission plan can be achieved," he said.
In the past five years, the industry grew at the rate of 15-27 per cent, he said. "This growth provided encouragement to various players and nearly Rs 78,000 crore of investment has been planned. About 50 per cent of this has already been committed."