With improved consumer sentiment fuelling demand for new cars, car sales grew for the fourth consecutive month in August, indicating that the industry was beginning to see a turnaround.
According to the data released by industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), domestic car sales in August stood at 1.54 lakh units as compared to 1.34 lakh units in the same month of 2013, posting an increase of about 15 per cent.
“The auto industry is seeing a gradual increase and even the cumulative numbers are seeing improvements month-on-month...We can see a slow turnaround happening,” SIAM Director-General Vishnu Mathur told reporters here.
In the April-August period this fiscal, car sales have grown by 5.24 per cent to 7.36 lakh units against 6.99 lakh units in the year-ago period. This raises hope that this year the auto industry is likely to post positive sales figures after two consecutive years of decline in 2012-13 and 2013-14. Mr. Mathur added that the process of economic recovery had started, which could have positive impact on overall sales.
“Sentiments have played a big role in car sales growth as interest rates are still high and companies are still offering hefty discounts,” he said. New model launches such as Honda Mobilio and Hyundai Elite i20 have also helped in increase of sales during the month.
In August, market leader Maruti Suzuki India’s domestic sales grew by 30.43 per cent, while Hyundai’s sales grew by 18.78 per cent. Honda Cars India witnessed a growth of 27.39 per cent in domestic sales.
On the other hand, home grown auto manufacturers like Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra saw a decline of 6.07 per cent and 6.42 per cent, respectively.
As per SIAM data, motorcycle sales during the month grew by 14.45 per cent to 9.10 lakh units against 7.95 lakh units in August 2013, while total scooter sales stood at 3.69 lakh units compared to 2.83 lakh units in the same month last year, up 30.44 per cent.
Two-wheelersales up 19 % Total two-wheeler sales in August grew by 19.22 per cent to 13.46 lakh units from 11.29 lakh units in the same period of the previous year.
Sales of commercial vehicles (CV) continue to be a concern as they were down by 5.59 per cent to 48,473 units. “Our key concern is the commercial vehicles segment. It is still in the negative territory, although growth is coming back in the category,” Mr. Mathur said.
He, however, added that with economic recovery taking place, some mining activities starting again and infrastructure spending coming back again, the segment should also see recovery.
“By the end of the year, the CV segment may or may not be in positive territory but it will continue to improve,” he said.
Total sale of vehicles across categories registered a growth of 17.54 per cent at 16.60 lakh in August as against 14.13 lakh units in the same month of 2013, it added.
