Truckers' stir hit auto sales

Leading automobile companies today said the week-long truckers' strike over the service tax had hit sales in August.

Maruti Udyog Ltd, the country's largest carmaker, said though its August sales were up 32 per cent over the same month last year, the strike had had an impact. However, the company was hopeful of making up the loss in September.

"Our August sales were affected as 85 per cent of the despatches are through trucks," Maruti Udyog Managing Director Jagdish Khattar told the media on the sidelines of the annual convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

Tata Motors, too, said there would be a minor impact of the strike on August sales. "The sales in the month of August will be lower than in July this year," Tata Motors Vice-President (commercial passenger car unit) Rajiv Dubey said. The company is expected to announce its sales figures in the next two days.

General Motors President Aditya Vij said there had been a production loss of 15-20 per cent because of the strike, which was called off on August 28.

The worst hit among the automobile companies was two-wheeler maker TVS Motor Company, which reported a 21.23 per cent dip in motorcycle sales last month. The company's total two-wheeler sales dipped 11.67 per cent during the month.