The sales of passenger vehicles such as cars and sports utility vehicles, or SUVs, declined in May because of weak demand and economic uncertainty. Sales fell for the seventh straight month in May, according to The Times of India.
India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki on Saturday reported a 22% decline in its sales. It had sold 1,72,512 units in May 2018 but could only sell 1,34,641 units this May. The sales of mini cars declined 56.7% from the previous year, while that of cars in the compact segment decreased by 9.2%. Sales of utility vehicles was also down by 25.3%, Maruti announced.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor announced a 6.3% decline in its vehicle sales in May. It sold only 13,066 units this May, as against 13,940 in the same month last year. Similarly, Mahindra and Mahindra reported a 3% decline in its sales in May, while Tata Motors reported a 26% decline and Honda Cars India Limited announced a 27.87% decline.
“The customer demand had witnessed a continued slowdown before the election results,” Toyota Kirloskar Motor Deputy Managing Director N Raja told PTI. “Customers have been spending cautiously, which led to sluggishness in the domestic auto sales. Added factors such as liquidity tightening, high insurance costs, increase in fuel costs have also weakened the retails.”
“The market continues to be tough for the auto industry with two consecutive months of such a high de-growth,” Honda Cars India Director for Sales and Marketing Rajesh Goel said. “It is unprecedented in the last two decades. After elections, we were expecting an upswing. Factors such as liquidity are affecting capital to the auto sector and increase in fuel prices has remained a challenge.”
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