February Car Sales Dip by 25.7 percent; Automakers Cut Down Production

According to SIAMs sales report for the month of February, car sales in India have declined by 25.7 per cent causing several automakers to cut down on production including Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and General Motors. MSI stopped petrol car production at its Gurgaon plant on Saturday, having asked employees not to report for work on the day. The other auto manufacturers also resorted to these production cut strategies in order to keep their and dealer inventories under control.

According to SIAM, this dip in sales is the biggest in 12 years since December, 2000 when the auto market had dropped by a massive 40 per cent. The monthly data released by SIAM showed that car sales had shrunk down to 158,513 units sold in comparison to 213,362 units sold in the same month last year. Additionally, the industry body expects this trend to continue for most of 2013. "There is no incentive to buy new cars or replace the older ones. We expect the slowdown in sales to continue for the larger part of 2013 beyond the fiscal year that ends in March. The real impact is felt at the bottom of the pyramid, people who buy the smaller cars as demand for entry level compact cars have dropped significantly," SIAM deputy director general Sugato Sen stated.

ET