Country’s passenger vehicle sales fell for the ninth straight month in July, as per auto industry body, amid a deepening crisis in the country’s automobile sector that has triggered large-scale job losses. According to data showed by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Commercial vehicles sales fell 25.7% to 56,866 units, Motorcycle and scooters sales fell 16.8% to about 1.51 million units, while passenger car sales fell 36% to 122,956 units, the data showed. The data also showed that domestic passenger vehicle production was down nearly 17% in the month.
The fall in car sales comes at a time when demand for consumer goods is falling and what is seen as a major sign of an economic slowdown in India, amid a liquidity crunch in the country’s shadow banking sector that has impacted the availability of credit in the market. The auto sector is cutting 10,000 of jobs citing slumping sales of cars and motorcycles, with many companies forced to shut down factories for days and axe shifts.
The domestic auto industry demanded tax cuts and easier access to finance for dealers and buyers at a meeting with the government officials last week to discuss the sector’s woes, to revive sales that have slumped.
Read EquityPandit’s Nifty Outlook for the Week