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Vehicle manufacturers such as Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra are feeling the pinch of demand slump as consumers have continued to shun purchase of new vehicles after the festive season.
Factors such as high fuel prices, expensive finance costs, tighter lending norms, sombre buyer sentiments, among other reasons have impacted retail demand during the month.
Mumbai-based Tata Motors, India's fourth biggest passenger vehicle maker, reported a 42 per cent dip in sales at 10,376 units in November as against 18,031 units sold in the same month last year.
Sales of Nano, Indica and Indigo range stood at 7,910 units during the month, a dip of 42 per cent. Sales of the utility vehicle range, which includes Sumo, Safari, Aria and Venture, dipped to 2,466 units, a fall of 45 per cent.
The aggregate drop in sales is despite the fact that the company introduced refreshed variants of Nano, Indigo CS and Sumo before the festive period under its Horizonext campaign.
Utility vehicle market leader Mahindra & Mahindra followed Tata Motors marking a slump of 32 per cent in November with passenger vehicle sales of 16,771 units as compared to 24,604 units sold in the same month last year.
Pravin Shah, chief executive, automotive division, Mahindra & Mahindra, said, "After the festive season month of October, the auto industry has turned to further de-growth and continues to remain subdued. Unless some concrete measures are provided for its revival, we do not foresee any immediate turnaround. Factors such as increase in input costs and the depreciating rupee have not helped in any way."
Toyota Kirloskar Motors, the joint venture company of Toyota Motor company in India, posted a slight dip in sales in November, however, it narrowly missed the fourth place in the ranking of India biggest passenger vehicle sellers.
The company which makes products like the Innova and Etios posted sales of 10,208 units in the reporting month, a fall of 1.3 per cent as against 10,352 units sold in the same month last year.
Sandeep Singh, Deputy Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer, Marketing and Commercial, TKM, said "The market continues to be sluggish and market sentiments are not expected to improve in the coming months."
