Domestic cars sales take a hit in May 2017

Uncertain economic conditions played a major part in the drop of cars sales in May 2017. Many manufacturers struggled to achieve positive growth in India’s hottest month and were affected by a variety of factors of which the main one was the announcement of the rules of the GST bill. However, this is also that time of the year when cars sales across the spectrum experience a seasonal slowdown. This period will continue till September and then sales would pick up again once the festival season in the country begins.

The numbers had been holding steady since the start of the year with the industry numbers hovering around the 2.6 lakh unit mark and peaking in March where 2.78 lakh units were moved. This month of course things have changed as only 2.48 lakh units were moved in total.

In terms of the players, sitting right at the top of the chain is of course Maruti Suzuki who with a market share of 52 per cent achieved a growth of 15.1 per cent while among the other players Tata with a market share of 4.3 per cent achieved the highest growth of 26 per cent. At the other end of the scale is of course GM who lost a whopping 86 per cent of its sales year-on-year by moving only 361 units as compared to 2615 units in May 2016. Fiat which has been struggling for a while now had a drop of 32.1 per cent. It sold 340 units in May 2017 as compared to the corresponding period last year.

Long viewed as an export hub, the Indian auto industry today is one of the premiere destinations for export of RHD cars to various markets. In addition some manufacturers also produce cars for LHD markets at their Indian facilities. Leading the export charge for the Indian manufacturers in terms of numbers is Hyundai who exported 1.67 lakh units in the period April 2016 to March 2017 as compared to 1.62 lakh during April 2015 to March 2016. Ford came in second with 1.58 lakh units.