Car sales hit slow lane in FY19 as prices rise

New Delhi: Passenger vehicle sales in India rose just 2.7% in 2018-19 as weak customer sentiment led by liquidity crunch, high vehicle prices and uncertainty revolving forthcoming elections put brakes on the sales growth in the segment.

According to data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) on Monday, domestic passenger vehicles (PV) sales were at 33,77,436 units in 2018-19 beating the previous record of 32,88,581 units in 2017-18.

However, despite new product laun-ches, sales failed to revv up during the second half of the last fiscal which had even prompted the industry body to lower the sales forecast for the PVs from the earlier estimate of 8-10% to 6%. The final figure of 2.7% is even lower than that.

"If we look at the positive side then we have continued to grow, though not in high single-digit or double-digits, but low single-digit. Also, it is the highest-ever sales and production in a financial year," SIAM President Rajan Wadhera told reporters here.

Domestic car sales in 2018-19 were at 22,18, 549 units as against 21,74,024 units in 2017-18, displaying a growth of 2.05%. Utility vehicles (UV) sales were at 9,41,461 units last fiscal as against 9,22,322 units in 2017-18, a growth of 2.08%.