After a festive season spike raised hopes of an economic revival last month, automobile sales plummeted again in November. This proves fears that October’s glimmer of hope was purely due to festive season uptake and that a revival in growth is far from happening.
Cars as well as two-wheeler sales fell by 14 per cent each in November, compared to figure of the same month last year. As per auto industry body SIAM’s figures released Tuesday morning, most segments show a dip, with an overall drop of 12 per cent across all categories—from 20.38 lakh vehicles in November, 2018, to 17.92 lakh vehicles last month.
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“It’s still negative growth, as last November’s figure was already low, with the slowdown having already started,” pointed out Rajesh Menon, director-general of SIAM.
The continuing decline of auto sales is indicative that there is yet no respite from the economic slowdown that has gripped the country. Of particular note is the consistent dismal figures of commercial vehicles and two-wheelers—both dropped by 14 per cent each last month. “It’s a worry area—commercial vehicle sales has been falling steadily since last year and indicates that infrastructure sector is yet to pick up (since these vehicles are used for commercial and infrastructure work),” said a SIAM official.
Similarly, two-wheeler sales, which fell from 16.45 lakh to just over 14 lakh is indicative of how rural spending is yet to revive.
