Auto sector seems to be rebounding as car sales rose to 1,56,018 units in September, the highest level this fiscal after a prolonged slump.“The good news is that for cars, passenger vehicles, utility vehicles and two-wheelers, September was the best month in terms of absolute numbers this fiscal. I hope we can continue with this momentum,” SIAM President Vikram Kirloskar told reporters here.
However, SIAM still believes that it was unlikely that passenger car sales would post positive growth this fiscal under current economic circumstances.It said the decline of 4.67 per cent in car sales in the first half of this fiscal was the worst since 2002-03, when sales dropped by 6.96 per cent in the same period.
“Passenger vehicle (PV) sales in India continue to be under pressure with the market declining by 5 per cent during the first half of this fiscal year. Although passenger car sales have gone up marginally by 2.0 per cent during the second quarter of this fiscal year, this has only been on the back of lower sales volume last year resulting from a plant shutdown at one of the auto majors,” said Partner and National leader - Automotive practice Ernst & Young, Rakesh Batra.
“On a calendar year basis, the PV market has gone down by almost 8 per cent during the first nine months of 2013 – and all the three PV sub-segments, Passenger Cars, Utility Vehicles and Vans have been impacted. This can be attributed to the slowdown in economic growth, low consumer sentiment, high inflation, rising interest rates and high fuel prices. The depreciating Rupee has made the domestic scenario even worse - to make up for the increase in input costs, a number of automakers have increased vehicle prices and this is likely to further affect demand adversely,” he added.
Domestic passenger car sales grew 0.73 per cent in September from 1,54,884 units a year earlier. Asked if the September sales reflected a rebound in the market, Kirloskar said: “It is difficult to say, but we have had a good monsoon and some positives around.” Kirloskar said it was unlikely for car sales to post positive growth this fiscal “unless something really nice happens in the festive season.”
“I will be really happy if there is flat or even a slight positive growth this fiscal,” he added. Market leader Maruti Suzuki India posted a 14.52 per cent growth in domestic sales at 78,975 units last month as against 68,957 units in the same period last year.