Festival season fails to light up car, two-wheeler sales in Oct

Sales of both cars and two-wheelers fell in October, compared with the year-ago period, as demand remained subdued during the festival season.

Car sales dipped 2.55 per cent to 1.59 lakh units during the month, from 1.63 lakh units in October 2013, the monthly report by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) released on Monday showed.

“The festival season has been subdued compared to last year. Sentiments have become positive, but till we have some real economic growth kicking in, we might not see sales picking up,” Sugato Sen, Deputy Director General, SIAM, told reporters here.

Sales are expected to remain subdued for the next two months, but may see some revival early next year, he said, adding that the passenger vehicle segment and passenger cars are likely to grow at sub-5 per cent this financial year.

Total two-wheeler sales declined by 4 per cent to 14.62 lakh units in October, year-on-year.

Motorcycle sales, which fell by around 9 per cent during the month to 10.09 lakh units (versus 11.05 lakh units last year), are also expected to remain subdued till the end of this year, Sen said.

Similarly, total commercial vehicle sales dropped 3 per cent to 51,965 units during the month against 53,557 units in October 2013, the SIAM data said.

On a brighter note, sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicles, and three-wheelers grew during the month, led by some improvement in the construction, mining and small enterprise industries.

Sen said the Indian auto industry is seeking the Government’s support in its effort to enter new geographies as it faces various roadblocks in traditional car export markets such as Europe and Africa.

“We have submitted a detailed report to the Ministry of Commerce, informing it about the regions that have potential,” he said, adding that the industry wants the Government to facilitate exports into various new markets, including those in Latin America and Africa.

“We want the Government to support us to get into various markets, including Chile, Peru, Colombia, Nigeria and South Africa.

“We don’t even have a free trade agreement with Chile, which is a market with great export potential,” he added.