Car sales to continue downward trend this festive season

In the wake of recent announcements by Reserve Bank regarding the tight monetary policy it is about to adopt, it would not be a cakewalk for the Indian car market this Diwali, it seems. The recent rise in interest rates has already come down heavily on car sales in India. With major car makers such as Maruti, Hyundai, Tata besides other facing the pangs of it, this Diwali seems to do no wonders to them. However, recent launch of new Maruti Swift and new Honda Jazz, Tata Aria 4x2 and other cars are expected to fetch some numbers in car sales. Besides, there are more car launches slated in the coming months including Skoda Laura RS, Volkswagen Golf, BMW 1 series, Skoda Rapid and Renault Koleos. Even such cars showering on the Indian car market seems to do no good.

Primarily, already hiked petrol and diesel prices and higher interest rates have played the spoilsport for the car industry. Adding fuel to the fire is the rising inflation. Where car sales used to climb to new peaks every year, with almost every car maker in India minting money, experts project that it would be a miracle if car companies in India could duplicate their past year sales figures this year. However, even in this grim situation, car makers are optimistic and have slated the launch of some of their best car offerings in India.

It is expected that the Reserve Bank of India will review the interest rates on September 16 in order to neutralize rising inflation. It will be the 12 time that the interest rates will witness a hike in the past 17 months.