Auto stocks tumble up to 9 pc as sales in India see sharpest fall in 19 yrs in July

Auto stocks tumbled up to 9 per cent on Tuesday after industry body SIAM reported that automobile sales in India witnessed sharpest decline in nearly 19 years in July, dropping 18.71 per cent, rendering almost 15,000 workers jobless over the past two-three months.

Shares of Motherson Sumi Systems tanked 8.94 per cent, Bharat Forge fell 6.13 per cent, M&M plunged 6.11 per cent, Bosch fell 5.43 per cent, Eicher Motors declined 5.31 per cent and TVS Motor Company fell 5.07 per cent.

Besides, Maruti Suzuki India fell 4.72 per cent, Ashok Leyland declined 4.35 per cent, Apollo Tyres fell 2.80 per cent, Hero MotoCorp declined 2.14 per cent, Bajaj Auto fell 1.51 per cent and Tata Motors declined 0.04 per cent on the BSE.

The BSE auto index fell 3.88 per cent to close at 15,438.01.

As per data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), vehicle sales across categories, including passenger vehicles (PVs) and two-wheelers, stood at 18,25,148 units last month as against 22,45,223 units in July 2018.

The previous biggest decline across overall domestic automobile sales was recorded in December 2000, when it fell 21.81 per cent.

SIAM Director General Vishnu Mathur said almost 15,000 jobs, mostly temporary and casual workers, have already been lost in automobile manufacturing companies over the last two to three months.

Besides, over a million jobs are on the line in the automotive components segment, he added.