Commercial vehicle sales plummet 22 per cent in 2008-09, cars up 1 per cent

08 April 2009

The automobile industry remained flat in the last financial year (April 2008-March 2009) hit by a huge fall in commercial vehicle sales amidst the slowdown in the economy, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said.

Sales of commercial vehicles declined (-) 21.69 per cent during 2008-09 compared to last year while medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales declined by (-) 33.16 per cent and light commercial vehicle sales registered negative growth at (-) 7.10 per cent.

In March 2009, commercial vehicles sales fell 26.22 per cent compared to March 2008. M&HCV sales fell 43.40 per cent and LCV sales fell 0.17 per cent. Also, buses (M&HCV) sales grew marginally at 0.57 per cent and that of smaller buses declined by 6.72 per cent. 

Car sales in India rose 1.0 per cent in March to 129,358 units against 128,098 a year earlier on the back of lower interest rate and a government stimulus package for boosting vehicle demand, SIAM said in a release.

Domestic sales of passenger vehicles grew at a marginal 0.13 per cent during 2008-09 over 2007-08. Passenger cars and multi purpose vehicles recorded a growth of 1.31 per cent and 5.69 per cent, respectively during this period. However, sales of utility vehicles fell by (-) 7.94 per cent. Sales of passenger vehicles declined in March 2009 by (-) 1.15 per cent over March 2008.

Three-wheeler sales registered a decline of (-) 4.13 per cent in 2008-09. While passenger carrier sales grew 14.36 per cent during 2008-09, goods carriers declined (-) 37.52 per cent. In March 2009, three-wheeler sales grew 11.40 per cent over same month last year.