Passenger Vehicle Sales See Worst Ever Monthly Drop Since 1997-98
India’s monthly passenger vehicle and car sales recorded their steepest fall ever in August, according to data released by an industry body on Monday, highlighting the continued slowdown in the sector amid assurances by the government for revival.
The auto sales numbers for August 2019 are in and they too paint a bleak picture of an industry which was once a shining example of ‘Make-In-India’. The month of August 2019 has seen the worst decline ever since 1997-98. The percentage sale of two-wheeler is also at a three-year low. The overall passenger vehicle sales dropped by a significant 31.57 per cent last month with 196,524 units sold in total as compared to 287,198 units sold in August 2018. The biggest hit was taken by the passenger car sales which declined by a massive 41.09 per cent, selling 115,957 units as compare to 196,847 units sold in August 2018. Thankfully, the utility vehicles sales saw a decline of just 2.2 per cent with 71,478 units sold as compared to 73,085 units sold in August last year. The van segment on the other hand again saw a massive drop of 47.36 per cent with sales of 9,089 units in August 2019 as compared to 17,266 units sold in August 2018.
Two-wheeler sales too saw a decline of 22.24 per cent with 1,514,196 units sold in August 2019 as compared to 1,947,304 units sold in August 2018. Scooters, motorcycles and mopeds saw a decline of 22 per cent, 22 per cent and 21 per cent respectively. Medium and heavy commercial vehicles too saw a massive decline of 54.3 per cent with 15,573 units sold last month as compared to 34,073 units sold in August 2018. Light commercial vehicles too saw a decline of 28.21 per cent with 36,324 units sold as compared to 50,595 units sold in August 2018.
Auto companies’ heads urged New Delhi to revive the sector, crippled by sluggish demand resulting in hundreds of thousands of job cuts, at a conference last week.
Road and Transport minister Nitin Gadkari assured them that the government was working to help the sector and said he had asked the finance ministry to consider cutting taxes on petrol and diesel, as well as hybrid vehicles.