Car sales dip 2.55% in Oct as festive purchases remain subdued

Car sales in India fell 2.55 per cent in October as purchases remained subdued during the festival season, marking the second consecutive month of decline.
According to the data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), domestic car sales in October this year stood at 1,59,036 units as compared to 1,63,199 units in the same month of 2013.
"Festival season has been subdued as compared to last year. Also, the sentiment has become positive but unless we have some real economic growth kicking in, we might not see automobile sales going up," SIAM Deputy Director General Sugato Sen told reporters here.

He added that sales would remain subdued for the next two months but may see some revival starting early next year.
"Though we might see some revival in sales early next year, the passenger vehicle segment and passenger cars are expected to grow at sub-5 per cent this fiscal," Sen said.
In August, SIAM had forecast a growth of 5-10 per cent in passenger vehicles and cars for the current financial year.

Car sales in the country grew from May to August this year after a prolonged slump which lasted over two years. The sales, however, declined 1.03 per cent in September.

In October, market leader Maruti Suzuki India posted a growth of 1.95 per cent in domestic passenger car sales at 80,589 units as against 79,040 units in the same month last year.
Rival Hyundai Motor India saw its sales grow by 5.34 per cent to 37,894 units as compared to 35,973 units in the same month last year.
Honda Cars India witnessed a decline of 8.45 per cent in domestic sales of its passenger cars at 10,186 units as against 11,127 units in the year-ago month.
Homegrown auto major Tata Motors' sales were down 12.33 per cent at 9,594 units as against 10,944 units in October 2013, while utility vehicles major Mahindra & Mahindra's sales during the month declined by 13.64 per cent to 19,029 units as against 22,035 units last year.

Motorcycle sales last month declined 8.73 per cent to 10,08,761 units from 11,05,269 units a year earlier, according to SIAM data.
"Motorcycle sales will remain subdued till the end of the year. It follows a pattern. Last year sales were up in October but fell in November and this year sales were up last month and fell in October," Sen said.
Market leader Hero MotoCorp saw its sales dip 11.42 per cent to 4,91,190 units as against 5,54,545 units in the same month last year.