Letter to BS: 31% drop in car sales is a wake-up call for govt, industry

I doubt that festival sales this year will really perk up despite the big discounts most auto manufacturers are bound to announce

Apropos your front page report, “Passenger vehicle sales plunge 31 per cent, steepest in two decades” by Arindam Majumder (August 14); the 31 per cent drop in car sales is a harsh wake-up call for both the government and the industry. The fortune of the auto industry is usually a good indicator of the overall health of the economy because it has a deep connect with several other sectors, both in manufacturing and services. The auto industry, being a big job creator, has added to the woes and has spread the sentiment of gloom all around.

The accompanying chart, “Accelerating decline”,