July 12, 2013: The sales numbers for June 2013 are out and the newsis not good. Domestic passenger car sales fell by 9 percent to 139,632 units in June this year from 153,450 units in June 2012. This is the seventh consecutive slowdown in car sales with the first quarter of the fiscal seeing an average of 10 percent in car sales decline.

Overall passenger vehicle sales (including UVs) were down 5.87 percent to 196,732 units (June 2012: 209,0006).

According to apex industry body, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), motorcycle sales last month declined by 9.16 percent to 799,139 units from 879,721 units in June 2012. This decline is significant and points to a real issue given that bikes are a family’s first choice in the Indian market. To woo buyers, OEMs like Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India have come out with affordable versions of their entry-level offerings even as the market leader, Hero MotoCorp is offering a four-year warranty on its bike range.

Total two-wheeler sales in June 2013 fell by 4.56 percent to 11,16,424 units from 11,69,741 units a year ago.

In the commercial vehicle segment, the scenario appears dismal. Total sales declined by 13.45 percent to 56,197 units from 64,928 units in the year-ago period, SIAM said. Sales of medium and heavy CVs continue to fall and there are even signs of LCV sales taking a small hit.

Total sales of vehicles across categories registered a decline of 5.25 percent to 1,407,767 units in June 2013 as against 1,4,85,744 units in June 2012.