Automobile sales in the country crashed again by nearly a third in August 2019 over last year marking the 10th straight month that sales have declined. India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki posted a steep 36 per cent decline in sales in August at 93,173 units compared to 145,895 units in the same month last year. This was the second month in a row that Maruti has dispatched less than 100,000 cars to dealerships.

Others including Hyundai Motor India and Mahindra and Mahindra performed no better despite multiple new launches in the last 12 months for cushion. Hyundai brought back the Santro in a new avatar in October last year, followed it up with its maiden compact SUV Venue in May this year and launched the third-generation version of its bestselling hatchback Grand i10 Nios last month. Still, it registered a 16.6 per cent decline in sales last month. Mahindra which launched the Marazzo MPV, Alturas premium SUV and XUV3OO Compact SUV also posted a 31.6 per cent dip in sales.

"The auto industry continues to be subdued in August due to several external factors. We are optimistic and hopeful of a good festive season going ahead," M&M Chief of Sales and Marketing, Automotive Division Veejay Ram Nakra said.

Those without the luxury of new products fared worse. Honda Cars saw its sales slide by 51.3 per cent while Toyota witnessed a 24.1 per cent dip. Homegrown Tata Motors saw sales decline a staggering 58 per cent though the company said its dealers actually sold more cars to customers directly and the lower numbers were largely due to inventory correction.

Source:businesstoday