Car sales continue to grow in June

Though the growth is not robust,most in the automobile industry are pleased to see it rise and are equally confident that though the fate of commercial vehicles...

Though the growth is not robust,most in the automobile industry are pleased to see it rise and are equally confident that though the fate of commercial vehicles CVs is inextricably tied to economic activity,passenger cars and two-wheelers will fare reasonably well.

Passenger car sales in the country continued to grow for a fifth consecutive month in June,with sales rising by 7.81 per cent,which analysts believe is indicative of a healthy first half of the financial year. SIAM figures show that 1,07,531 passenger cars were sold in June whereas in the year-ago period,the sales stood at 99,741 units. The total two-wheeler sales for the same period have surged by 17.44 per cent to 7,06,937 units over June last year.

Dilip Chenoy,director general,Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers SIAM,said,Car and two-wheeler sales will have growth in the first half of the current fiscal. The growth witnessed in the passenger car segment was mainly driven by the new model launches. Continuity of stimulus packages will help arrest the decline in sales.

Three-wheeler sales also saw a rise of 13.17 per cent to 33,727 units during the month compared to that in June 2008. CV sales,however,dipped by 12.51 per cent to 36,193 units in the month over the year-ago month. Light CV sales grew by 10.02 per cent to 20,534 units in the month. Medium and Heavy CV sales in June fell by 31.03 per cent to 15,659 units compared to that in the same month last year. Recovery for the CV sector is likely to be slow and will depend heavily on the governments ability to quickly implement the infrastructure development plans for the rest of the fiscal.

In all,9,17,100 vehicles were sold in June,a rise of 14.26 per cent over a sale of 8,02,624 units in the same month last year though SIAM feels there is room for the government to do more to protect its interests.

Total sales may see single-digit growth in the first half,which needs to be addressed, said Chenoy,Though the Budget is positive,we believe that some more steps will be announced outside the Budget within the next few weeks.