Car sales rise in Oct after 11-months fall

New Delhi: Passenger vehicle sales in India rose marginally in October aided by positive festive season sentiment and introduction of new models in utility vehicle space, just about managing to snap 11 continuous months of decline in sales, auto industry body SIAM said on Monday.

Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) expressed hope that the positive sentiment would continue in November and December as well, thus helping the industry "slowly come out of the slowdown".

According to the latest data by SIAM, passenger vehicle (PV) sales during October increased by 0.28 per cent to 2,85,027 units, from 2,84,223 units in the year-ago period. Passenger vehicle wholesales in India had declined for the 11th consecutive month in September.

However, vehicle sales across categories registered a decline of 12.76 per cent last month to 21,76,136 units from 24,94,345 units in October 2018. Barring utility vehicles, passenger carriers and quadricycles, all other vehicle categories witnessed decline in sales during the month.

In April-October period, however, the PV sales witnessed a drop of over 20 per cent as compared to the same period last year. In October, domestic car sales were down 6.34 per cent to 1,73,649 units as against 1,85,400 units in the same month last year.

Utility vehicle sales on the other hand saw an increase of 22.22 per cent during the month at 1,00,725 units as against 82,413 units in year-ago period.

"Sales in the festive season have been better than last year which is a good sign. We wish it continues in November and December as well and help us slowly come out of this slowdown," SIAM President Rajan Wadhera told reporters.