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It is a year which the Indian auto industry would rather forget. Data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers last week showed a decline of 4.65 per cent in sales (1.78 million units from 1.87 million) for 2013-14 and an alarming 20 per cent (6.3 lakh from 7.9 lakh) in the case of commercial vehicles. Two-wheelers, however, grew by 7.31 per cent to 14.8 million from 13.79 million units with scooters leading the charge.
And even while total auto sales for the fiscal were up 3.53 per cent to 18.42 million units, it was cold comfort to carmakers. The poor market sentiment is owing to a host of factors including rising fuel prices and a wobbly job market.
The industry believes that customers will start buying vehicles all over again once the new Government is in place as this will lead to an overall feel-good factor.
In this grim scenario, Maruti and Honda have been reporting brisk car numbers thanks to the success of models like the Swift, Celerio, Amaze and City.
In two-wheelers, Honda has been spearheading the momentum, particularly with its scooters. While Hero continues to be the market leader with production of over six million bikes and scooters, Honda is fast catching up with 4.6 million units.
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