Post-festive period auto demand fizzles out

Consumers continued to shun new vehicle purchases post after the festive season as vehicle manufacturers like Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra felt the pinch of the demand slump last month.

 

Factors like high fuel prices, expensive finance costs, tighter lending norms, sombre buyer sentiments, among other reasons have impacted retail demand during the month. 

 

Mumbai-based Tata Motors, India's fourth biggest passenger vehicle maker, reported a 42 per cent dip in sales at 10,376 units in November as against 18,031 units sold in the same month last year. 

 

Sales of the Nano, Indica and Indigo range stood at 7910 units during the month, a dip of 42 per cent. Sales of the utility vehicle range which includes Sumo, Safari, Aria and Venture dipped to 2466 units, a fall of 45 per cent. 

 

The aggregate drop in sales is despite the fact that the company introduced refreshed variants of the Nano, Indigo CS and the Sumo before the festive period under its Horizonext campaign.

 

Utility vehicle market leader Mahindra & Mahindra followed Tata Motors marking a slump of 32 per cent in November with passenger vehicle sales of 16,771 units as compared to 24,604 units sold in the same month last year.

 

Pravin Shah, Chief Executive, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra said, “Post the festive season month of October, the auto industry has turned to further de-growth and continues to remain subdued. Unless some concrete measures are provided for its revival, we do not foresee any immediate turnaround. Factors such as increase in input costs and the depreciating rupee have not helped in any way".

 

Toyota Kirloskar Motors, the joint venture company of Toyota Motor Company in India posted slight dip in sales in November, however, it narrowly missed the fourth place in the ranking of India biggest passenger vehicle sellers.

 

The company which makes products like the Innova and Etios posted sales of 10,208 units in the reporting month, a fall of 1.3 per cent as against 10,352 units sold in the same month last year.

 

Sandeep Singh, Deputy Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer, Marketing and Commercial, TKM said “The market continues to be sluggish and market sentiments are not expected to improve in the coming months.”