New Car Models prevented Auto sales from steep decline

The launching of the new car models prevented Auto sales from steep decline. Models like Hyundai i20 and Mahindra Xylo helping companies to post a relatively decline in the sales. The running year seems to be negative for the commercial vehicles and may be for passenger cars, said Mr Dilip Chenoy, Director General, SIAM,while releasing the data.

According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufactures there is a decline in the passenger car sales in the current financial year. The figures shows that there is a 3 percent drop in the sales compared with the corresponding period the previous year.

Fiat, Maruti and BMW are the only companies whose sales rose in the month. Because of the insecurity in the job market 12 out of 16 passenger vehicle producers reported a fall in the sales and limited finance forced customers to postpone their purchases.

After may, january sales are the highest in this fiscal year on a month-on-month basis. The lower decline in the sales is because of increased preference among consumers to buy the current years model.

As a result of the Government's efforts to stimulate the economy the top executives of other auto companies such as Toyota and BMW have indicated that the first half of the year will be difficult and that demands may be augmented in the second half of the year.