India car sales up but top sources remain cautious

Sales data of the Indian passenger vehicle industry over the past four months show that growth is back. Yes, there’s growth but it’s not worth celebrating yet. The reason is that the year-on-year growth is coming over a very low base of last year. Autocar Professional spoke to a couple of industry leaders on the subject on the sidelines of the SIAM Convention in New Delhi on September 12.

“The already slow market saw a very sharp downfall during July-August last year. The growth we are seeing is due to the low base of last year,” says Sumit Sawhney, MD and CEO, Renault India, who is preparing to launch a new model that will mark Renault’s entry into the growing Indian MPV market. But there’s a turnaround, no doubt. It is being fuelled mainly by the overall positive sentiment in the country.

Jnaneswar Sen, senior vice-president – marketing and sales, Honda Cars India, feels that the positive sentiment has to be backed by some hard facts and figures for the growth to be sustainable. “Better GDP growth and moderation of inflation are key. Particularly moderation of inflation as that will lead to more disposable income in the hands of consumers,” says Sen. He and many of his counterparts in the industry are looking forward to a good festive season and then wait and watch a little more before confirming that the industry has actually turned the corner.
Even though it is not time to cheer yet, the inherent potential of the Indian market has taken away some of the burden from industry executives. “The headroom is enormous for us for many many years,” says Sen. It is to be noted that compared to the car penetration level of 596 cars per 1,000 population in Honda’s home market Japan, the car penetration level is less than 20 units per 1,000 people in India.