The automobile industry, which has been going through one of its worst slowdowns in recent memory, seemed to have hit a new low with the July sales numbers of most companies declining in double digits on a year-on-year basis.
In the passenger vehicle segment, market leader Maruti Suzuki India reported one of its worst numbers for a month at 96,478 units, down 37 per cent compared with 1,52,427 units in July last year.
It is also the first time after June 2017 that the company’s monthly sales has fallen below the one-lakh mark for a particular month.
Hyundai Motor India, the second largest company in the segment, reported a decline of 10 per cent YoY at 39,010 units compared with 43,481 units in the same month last year. Although the company is doing well with its new launches – the Venue compact SUV and Santro – it is not able to grab higher numbers from the other existing models.
Premium car maker Honda Cars India too reported one of the worst sales numbers at 10,250 units in July, a 49 per cent YoY drop (19,970 units).
Another Japanese subsidiary and ‘Innova’ maker Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported a 24 per cent YoY fall to 10,423 units (13,677 units).
Home-grown company Mahindra & Mahindra reported a 15 per cent decline in sales at 16,831 units versus 19,781 units in July 2018.
MG Motor India, a new entrant in the market, recorded sales of 1,508 units of its single model during the month.
2-wheelers, CVs too suffer
In the two-wheeler segment, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India reported a 10 per cent decline in sales during the month at 4.55 lakh units (5,08,589 units).
Except Suzuki Motorcycle India (17 per cent), all others, including Bajaj Auto (-13 per cent), TVS Motor Company (-16 per cent) and Royal Enfield (-27 per cent) reported a decline in sales.
In the commercial vehicle segment, companies including Ashok Leyland (-29 per cent), Mahindra & Mahindra (-17 per cent) and Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles (-22 per cent) recorded a decline.
“The industry is deeply concerned with the increasing pressure of low customer sentiment faced by the sector. The high insurance costs, rise in taxes and liquidity crunch across the non-banking finance segment and tightening of lending norms have significantly affected domestic sales in the last few months,” N Raja, Deputy Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said.