10th month of slowdown in motown

Consumer sentiments have been dampened due to several factors like tight liquidity, high insurance, and high costs

Homegrown automakers Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Thursday reported decline in sales for April, hit by subdued demand in the market.

Similarly, Toyota Kirloskar Motor also reported a decline of 22.43 per cent in its domestic sales last month.

Tata Motors said its passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market declined by 26 per cent to 12,694 units last month, compared to 17,235 units in April 2018.

"The industry has recorded de-growth for the 10th consecutive month.

“Weak consumer sentiments are reflected in this demand de growth and we have also been impacted," Tata Motors president, passenger vehicles business unit, Mayank Pareek said in a statement.

Meanwhile, M&M saw its passenger vehicle sales drop 8.94 per cent to 19,966 units in April as against 21,927 units in the year-ago period.

M&M president, automotive sector, Rajan Wadhera said the ongoing elections have subdued the purchase sentiment during April.

"This, according to us, is a temporary phenomenon. We believe, following the elections the auto industry will see a revival in consumer demand. Supported by a normal monsoon, we are confident of seeing higher sales in FY20," he added.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor said its domestic sales last month stood at 10,112 units against 13,037 units in April 2018, a decline of 22.43 per cent.

"The industry is currently experiencing a slowdown due to uncertainty of general elections that looms over the market and this slow pace is expected to continue until the new government is formed," TKM deputy managing director N Raja said.

Consumer sentiments have been dampened due to several factors like tight liquidity, high insurance, and high costs, he added.

On Wednesday, the country's top two carmakers, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) and Hyundai Motor India, had also reported a decline in their domestic sales in April.

While MSI reported an 18.7 per cent fall, Hyundai posted a decline of 10.1 per cent in domestic sales in the first month of the 2019-20 fiscal.

In the two wheeler segment, Bajaj Auto said its domestic motorcycle sales were up 2.5 per cent at 205,875 units in April as against 200,742 units in the year-ago month.

TVS Motor Company also posted 3 per cent increase in its domestic two-wheeler sales at 248,456 units last month, up 3 per cent from 241,604 units in the same month last year.