Apr car sales growth at 3.4%, slowest in 10 yrs

Post-Budget price hikes and high interest rates saw car sales recording the lowest ever growth in a decade during April with a mere 3.4% rise compared with the corresponding month of the previous year. According to the figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) on Thursday, domestic car sales stood at 168,351 units in April against 162,813 units in the same month last year. “The growth last month was sober, it is the slowest for April in the last 10 years. The price hike that was done after excise duty was raised in the Budget and high interest rates have affected consumers’ sentiment,” SIAM director general Vishnu Mathur said. In April 2002, the auto industry had seen car sales falling by 22%, he added. “The volume-driven small car segment was the worst hit in April with just a 0.68% rise in sales. This segment is very price sensitive and the slightest alterations impact it,” Mathur said, adding the market would take some time to absorb this price hike that has affected other sectors also. In Budget 2012-13, the government hiked excise duty by 2 percentage points to 12%, which has been passed on to customers by every automobile manufacturer by now. Total sales of vehicles across categories registered an increase of 10.01% to 1,472,385 units in April against 1,338,430 units in the same month last year. “Overall, growth in the industry was subdued. The first six months are going to be tough because if we expect any industry-friendly monetary policy, then it will happen in the second half only,” Mathur said. In the passenger car segment, Maruti Suzuki’s sales dipped by 1.31% to 72,939 units. However, Hyundai Motor India’s sales increased by 10.75% to 35,000 units. Even Tata Motors’ passenger car sales were down by 4.78% at 18,610 units. In the two-wheeler segment, sales last month increased by 10.94% to 1,157,108 units from 1,043,010 units in April 2011. According to the SIAM data, motorcycle sales in the country grew 6.54% during the month to 861,602 units from 808,728 units in the same month last year. In this segment, market leader Hero MotoCorp posted a 5.53% jump in sales to 494,473 units in April and Bajaj Auto’s sales went up by 2.17% to 200,228 units. Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) posted a 35.69% increase in sales to 77,665 units, while TVS Motor moved 50,863 units, 2.13% more than the corresponding month of the previous year. In the scooter segment, overall sales grew by 30.29% to 227,924 units from 174,931 units last April. HMSI’s scooter sales grew by 55.64% to 115,846 units, while Hero MotoCorp sold 40,354 units, up 15.44%. TVS Motor’s sales saw marginal growth during the month to 32,736 units. According to the SIAM report, commercial vehicle sales grew by 4.37% to 56,257 units in the reported month from 53,903 units in the year-ago period. Medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales declined 11.60% to 19,914 units during the month compared with 22,528 units in April last year, SIAM data showed. Light commercial vehicle sales grew 15.83% to 36,343 units in April 2012 from 31,375 units in April 2011.