Auto stocks skid on weak Dec sales numbers; Nifty Auto index down nearly 2%

The Nifty Auto index declined as much as 1.8% to 9025.75 levels after the auto companies such as Eicher Motors, M&M and Tata Motors reported lower-than-expected auto sales numbers for December

The Nifty Auto index declined as much as 1.8 per cent to 9025.75 levels after the auto companies such as Eicher Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki India reported lower-than-expected auto sales numbers for December.

In December 2018, liquidity crisis in the industry, higher interest rates and rising fuel costs continued to impact the commercial vehicle sales, with M&HCV and I&LCV segment witnessing a decline.
 
Eicher Motors has dipped 6 per cent to Rs 21,792 on the BSE after Royal Enfield (RE), the motorcycle franchise owned by the company, reported a 13 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) decline in total sales at 58,278 units in December 2018. It had sold 66,968 motorcycles during the same month last year. On a month-on-month basis, the volume declined by 11 per cent. It sold 65,744 motorcycles in November 2018. READ HERE

"Royal Enfield’s (RE) dispatches declined nearly 13% YoY to 58.3k units. This was the first month of no one-offs, as there have been multiple external factors influencing demand-supply since July 2018. Our channel checks for RE indicated broad-based weakness, but the magnitude of weakness has been a negative surprise. This weakness in demand might continue in near future, considering the substantial increase in the cost of ownership (insurance, rear disc brake and ABS-related) and Jawa has emerged as a reasonable alternative for potential RE customers," according to a report by Motilal Oswal.
 
Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) were trading 3.63 per cent lower at Rs 745.50 extending Tuesday's 4% decline on BSE in the intra-day trade after reporting disappointing sales numbers for December 2018 due to tight liquidity and low buying sentiment. The company said it has sold 17,404 units of tractors in December, down 6 per cent as compared to 18,488 units sold in the same month last year. READ HERE

 
Stocks of Tata Motors were trading at Rs 170.60, down 1.73 per cent after the company reported an 8 per cent decline in domestic sales to 50,440 units in December as compared with 54,627 units in the same month last year released on Tuesday. The company's passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market rose 1 per cent to 14,260 units last month, compared with 14,180 units in December 2017, the company said in a statement. READ HERE
 
The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India reported on Tuesday a 1.3 per cent decline in sales at 128,338 units in December. The company had sold 130,066 units in December last year, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said in a statement. Domestic sales were up 1.8 per cent at 121,479 units last month as against 119,286 units in the year-ago month, it added. At 11. READ MORE