Auto Industry continues with its downward spiral

With the festive season round the corner, the fortunes of the Indian automotive industry continued to deteriorate with domestic sales during April-July 2013 declining by 2.09 percent over the same period last year.

According to April-July 2013 statistics of industry body SIAM, passenger vehicles were down by 7.49 percent over the same period last year. Within this segment, passenger cars were one of the worst hit declining by 9.73 percent while utility vehicles and vans dropped by 1.03 percent and 2.39 percent during the period under review compared to the same period last year.

Another vehicle segment that was badly impacted by the ongoing slowdown was the commercial vehicle sector that registered a de-growth of 9.91 percent between April-July 2013 compared to the same period last year. Medium and heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCVs) registered a negative growth at 16.65 percent and LCVs also dropped by 6.11 percent.

Three wheelers sales declined by 3.45 percent with passenger carriers and goods carriers also down by 2.84 percent and 6.05 percent respectively.

Also impacted was the two wheeler segment that posted a de-growth of 0.64 percent. Within this category, mopeds and motorcycles declined by 13.07 percent and 3.40 percent respectively, while scooters grew by 13.11 percent.

Overall automobile exports also declined by 3.37 percent. Commercial vehicles and two wheelers declined by 26.53 percent, 9.88 percent respectively, while passenger vehicles and three wheelers registered growth at 2.39 percent and 46.47 percent respectively during April-July 2013 compared to the same period last year, according to a SIAM statement.

The industry produced a total 1,729,002 vehicles including passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, three wheelers and two wheelers in July 2013 against 1,745,532 in July 2012, registering a decline of 0.95 percent over the same month last year.