Car-Makers inspect huge fall in March, Renault and M&M still doing good

For the first time in a decade, the passenger vehicle sales in India for the month of March has registered a record lowdown, bringing the overall sales into negative for the entire fiscal. Car sales for March has recorded a down of 20 per cent, affecting the overall fiscal sales of leading car manufacturers – Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai India, Tata Motors, Volkswagen India and many more.

The unsettled economy, rising fuel prices and increased interest rates are the major reasons behind the huge fall of overall car sales. Despite huge discounts of over 10 per cent to 15 per cent, car makers failed to attract buyers leading to a complete market drop. The auto experts believed that the Indian market will continue to witness the same lowdown in the first half of current fiscal year too. According to the Umesh Karne, auto analyst, BRICS Securities : “The year started on a decent note, the prolonged slowdown and no positive stimulus led to all segments of passenger vehicles, two-wheelers and truck posting lowest growth seen in the last four-five years.”

When compared to March last year, the decline is more steeper. Last year March saw the highest ever sales for the cars due to festive season and delayed budget session allowing buyers to go for the purchase. Hyundai Motor India sales fell down by 13.50 per cent, General Motors Sales registered a negative of 14.94 per cent, while the Ford recorded a huge low of 41.61 per cent. Tata Motors suffered the most, it registered a huge negative growth of 67 per cent. Amidst, Some of the car-makers saw some growth as well – Toyota Kirloskar bagged a growth of 7 per cent and homegrown Mahindra & Mahindra recorded a high sale of 13 per cent. Renault India surprisingly registered a hefty growth of 71.9 per cent, thanks to Duster SUV.

Source : ET