Sales Drop In India, 7 Other Nations Predicted
Auto sales in India and seven other Asian economies are expected to drop 29.2 per cent in 1998 to 3.83 million vehicles, a plunge likely to offset auto sales growth of the past six years, a British financial institution said yesterday. The decline is attributed to the economic crisis which has swept Asia, the Economist Intelligence Unit affiliated with the `The Economist was quoted by Kyodo as saying. The other nations mentioned are SKorea, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Malays- ia, the Philippines and Taiwan. PTI
Auto sales in the region peaked at 5,797,600 vehicles in 1996 and fell 6.6 per cent to 5,413,200 in 1997 due partly to the currency crisis that hit the region in the latter half of that year, according to EIU.
This year, auto sales in Indonesia are forecast to plunge nearly 70 per cent, it said.
South Korea is expected to see a nearly 55 per cent drop and Thailand a 37.5 per cent fall, it added.
The EIU predicted auto sales in the region would not recover to the 1996 level until 2001.