Cars sales dip 8%, 2-wheeler purchases rise 5.5% in Nov

Factors like costlier fuel & finance and tighter lending norms hit demand during the month

Demand for passenger vehicles declined 10 per cent to 201,520 units in November, as customers continued to defer purchases in a weak economy. Car sales declined for the second month, with an eight per cent year-on-year drop.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam), which released sales data for the month on Tuesday, said any turnaround in the automobile market could only be possible after a new government was elected after the general elections next year.

Sugato Sen, deputy director general, said, “We are going through a challenging phase. We had anticipated that the sales will decline after a spurt in demand during the festive season. The high demand was unsustainable under the current economic conditions.

The current situation is unlikely to change till the time a new government comes. At this stage, this government cannot do anything spectacular to bring about a revival."

Factors like costlier fuel & finance and tighter lending norms hit demand during the month. Wholesale volumes for Maruti Suzuki dropped six per cent year-on-year to 85,510 vehicles in the domestic market. Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor India’s domestic volume fell 3.6 per cent year-on-year to 33,501 vehicles in the month.

Tapering demand for diesel-powered models took its toll on Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Tata Motors. While sales for Mumbai-based Tata Motors declined 45 per cent year-on-year to 14,637 vehicles in November, utility vehicle maker M&M registered a slump of 32 per cent, selling 18,694 passenger vehicles.

Total sales of commercial vehicles were down 29 per cent year-on-year to 43,730 units from to 61,403.

Sen said the opening of mining activities and infrastructure projects might offer some respite to commercial vehicle makers.

Bucking industry trend, two-wheeler sales grew 5.55 per cent to 1,240,732 vehicles in November.

Sales increased largely on the back of higher demand for scooters, up 25 per cent year-on-year to 305,586 vehicles during the month. Demand for motorcycles went up 1.4 per cent to 880,015 vehicles in the month.

Overall, sales of vehicles across categories registered a growth of 0.9 per cent to 1,526,438 units in November against 1,512,869 sold in the year-ago period.