Despite a slump in car sales and high excise rates the Indian car industry grew by 6.71 per cent for the month of July 2012. As per SIAM data the industry produced 1, 43, 496 vehicles as compared to 1, 34, 473 in July 2011. This is the ninth consecutive month of growth.
This year’s numbers seem larger due to the fact that at this time last year, the MSIL plant at Manesar was in the midst of a strike and a majority of the Japanese manufacturers had lost a large part of their facilities to March 2011 Tsunami. However, despite the growth in production numbers across almost all segments, the SIAM data also shows that the industry has slowed down overall. The cumulative production data for April-July 2012 shows production growth of 7.10 per cent over same period last year.
In a statement to the media, Vishnu Mathur, SIAM director general said that car sales grew mostly due to an increase in demand for diesel models, but even this was beginning to moderate.
He added that apart from a marginal reduction in petrol prices in the last one month, the Indian car buyer’s sentiments was hit badly and had no reason to invest.
On a related note, the industry hopes that with P Chidambaram returning as the finance minister there should be light at the end of the financial downturn tunnel for the auto market.
