Bad news for Auto sector: Passenger vehicle sales decline by 24%, commercial by 62%

There is no relief for the auto sector in India as SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) data for the month of September show that passenger vehicle sales plunged by 23.69 per cent. The commercial vehicle sales was down by 62.11 per cent in September.

This means the slump in vehicular sale has continued in the eleventh straight month at a time when the country's auto sector is facing one of the worst slowdown in decades.

According to SIAM data, passenger vehicle sales dropped to 2,23,317 units in September from 2,92,660 a year ago while passenger car sales dropped by 33.4 per cent to 131,281 units compared to the same period in 2018.

Low demand in recent months has led to a massive slowdown in the auto sector of the country which is the fourth largest in the world. A massive job loss is feared in India's automotive industry, which employs more than 3.5 crore people directly and indirectly. The auto sector accounts for about hlf of total manufacturing output of Indian economy.

To tackle the crisis, several auto companies have resorted to declaring



non-working days. This includes auto majors such as Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland. A non-working day like forced leave without pay. This is being done to reduce production of vehicles in the factories.

The SIAM data show that the total passenger vehicle production declined by over 18 per cent to 2,79,644 units in September compared to the figure of 3,41,539 units in September last year.

The production of total commercial vehicles dropped by 72.07 per cent in September against the same period last year. In terms of export, the commercial vehicle sales dropped by 45.06 per cent.

On export front, there is good news, however, for passenger vehicles. The segment showed export growth of 5.64 per cent in Septmber compared to the same month last year.

The two-wheeler segment also recorded a two-digit decline in production and domestic sales in September. On year-on-year basis, the scooter sales in September declined by 16.60 per cent while motorcycle sales fell by 23.29 per cent. Their production delcined by about 16 and 19 per cent Y-O-Y respectively.