Passenger vehicle sales fall again, this time by 24%
The grim picture of India's automotive sector continues to get worse with every passing month. An industry body has released monthly market data to note that the numbers for passenger and commercial vehicle sales have dropped again, punching further holes in the sector witnessing one of the worst slowdowns in decades. Here's all you need to know about it.
Decline in passenger vehicle sales
Just recently, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) released its market sales report for the month of September and noted that passenger vehicle sales have declined by 23.69% to 2,23,317 units. Of this, the report said, the number of cars sold plummeted by a significant 33.4% to 1,31,281 units. To note, this was the 11th straight month of fall in vehicle sales.
What about commercial vehicle sales?
The same report also noted that the numbers associated with commercial vehicle sales also fell in September - by a whopping 62.11%. Almost all automakers are bearing the burden of this slump, which stems from a persistent fall in consumer and business demand. In fact, it has been described as the worst slowdowns witnessed by the auto-sector of India.
Impact: Job and production cuts
This decline appears to have started a wave of damage control, where auto-makers are cutting production by announcing non-working days and laying off thousands of employees. If the situation goes like this, we could see more job losses in the auto industry, which employs more than 3.5 crore people directly and indirectly and makes up about half of India's manufacturing output.
Vehicle production declined significantly over last year
According to the SIAM report, total passenger vehicle production dropped from 3,41,539 units in September 2018 to 2,79,644 units this year - an 18% fall. Meanwhile, the YoY production of commercial vehicles dropped by 72.07% and the export for the same fell by 45.06%. Only the export of passenger grew in comparison to the last year, and that too just by 5.64%.
Major car-manufacturers cutting production
To recall, just recently, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland - three famous automakers in the Indian market - had announced non-working days to cut their factory production and tackle the crisis of falling demand and sales.
