Auto sales decline by 12.7 pc in October, signalling prolonged slowdown

Domestic vehicle sales across all categories declined by 12.76 per cent in October to 21.76 lakh units compared to 24.94 lakh units in the year-ago period, data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed on Monday.

Passenger car sales slipped by 6.34 per cent to 1.73 lakh from 1.85 lakh in October last year. Van sales dropped by 35 per cent to 10,653 from 16,410 but utility vehicle sales gained by 22.22 per cent to 1 lakh from 82,413 in the same period.

The decline in total domestic passenger vehicle sales in October works out to 0.28 per cent year-on-year, said SIAM.

Total two-wheeler sales declined by 14.43 per cent to 17.57 lakh units compared to 20.53 lakh units in the year-ago month. Motorcycle sales were down by 15.88 per cent to 11.16 lakh units as against 13.27 lakh units a year earlier.

A total of 66,985 three-wheelers were sold in October compared to 69,483 in the same month of last year, marking a decline of 3.6 per cent.

However, the commercial vehicle segment suffered a sales loss of 23.31 per cent with 66,773 units sold last month compared to 87,067 units in October last year.

The automobile sector has been experiencing a slump with nearly all manufacturers reporting falling sales due to subdued consumer sentiment amid an economic slowdown.

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