For the full year 2018, PV sales rose a sluggish 5.08% to 33,94,756 units from 32,30,614 units in the previous year
The year-end discounts and various freebies from car manufacturers failed to lift up the spirits of the consumers as the passenger vehicle (PV) sales declined last month.
Sales in the PV segment stood at 2,38,692 units in December 2018, marginally down from 2,39,723 units in the year-ago period. Total car sales in the domestic market declined 2.01% to 1,55,159 units from 1,58,338 in December 2017, according to data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) on Monday.
For the full year 2018, PV sales rose a sluggish 5.08% to 33,94,756 units from 32,30,614 units in the previous year.
Even the festival season, which is otherwise a good time for the automakers to register sales, did not give any push to the sector last year. Floods in Kerala, rising fuel prices and liquidity crisis in the non-banking finance sector were among the chief reasons for the consumer sentiment taking a hit. Barring October, the sales in the passenger vehicle segment have declined every month since July last year.
The sales commercial vehicles in December 2018 were down 7.8% to 75,984 units. Vehicle sales across categories registered a decline of 2.97% to 16,17,356 units from 16,66,878 units in December 2017.
“As festive season selling did not happen this year (2018) around, stocks at dealer level went up considerably. It required a correction so automakers made adjustments in this regard during December... Issues like high fuel prices, lack of finance and credit options led to decline in sales in the third quarter,” SIAM president Rajan Wadhera said.
But with fuel prices coming down, buyer sentiments have started to turn positive and we expect the fourth quarter to be better in terms of sales, he added.
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