The Hindu Business Line : Auto numbers down in Oct, confirms SIAM report

Mumbai, Nov. 10 The vehicle sales number for October released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has just confirmed the slowdown in the industry with all sectors reporting a decline.

Beaten by the high interest rate and credit crunch, the sales volume of commercial vehicles, passenger vehicles, three-wheelers and two-wheelers significantly came down last month compared to October 2007. The commercial vehicle sector took a beating with sales dropping 36 per cent to 28,027 units against the volumes clocked during the year-ago period, while passenger vehicle sales dropped to 1.26 lakh.

Total two-wheeler sales were 15 per cent down in festival month at 6.78 lakh while three-wheeler sales also showed decline.

Among commercial vehicles (CVs), medium and heavy vehicles sales shrunk to half the volume the segment clocked a year ago. From 23,352 in October 2007, it came to 11,786 last month, recording almost a 50 per cent decline. In truck segment, large players Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland and Eicher Motors showed drastic decrease in volumes.

Light commercial vehicle (LCV) sales declined 20 per cent. The only manufacturer in LCV goods carrier segment which showed growth was Mahindra & Mahindra. Its sales doubled to 1,000 in October. The market leader Tata Motors, which so far this year clocked sizable volumes on the back of sub-tonne light truck Ace, slid to 8,186. The second largest Hindustan Motors sold close to 5,000 units.

The passenger car segment reported 7 per cent sales drop at 98,900, with market leader Maruti Suzuki — which controls more than 50 per cent of the market share — and premium players Ford and Honda showing decline. Tata Motors showed a marginal growth last month on the back of recently-launched Indica Vista.

In motor cycle business, sales of the second largest player Bajaj Auto’s were halved to 1.02 lakh while the market leader Hero Honda and the third largest TVS also showed decrease in volume. Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India and Yamaha Motor India showed significant growth in October. The electric two-wheeler is a sub-segment that showed growth, selling 1,000 units more last month.

The sales of passenger carrier three-wheelers increased, while goods carriers’ sales slashed drastically, leading to negative growth in the overall segment.