Sentiment in the Indian automobile market continues to be poor, as General Motors (GM) India reported a decline of 7.92 per cent in January 2013 sales, which stood at 7,588 units. In comparison, the company sold 8,241 units during the same period last year.
"The market continues to remain depressed for the automobile sector because of various negative factors, including high interest rates and poor economic conditions. Passenger car segment in January this year is down by 13 per cent compared to January 2012," said GM India Vice President P Balendran.
He also said that based on the interest cut levied by the RBI, sales during the second quarter of the year may improve. This will depend on the nature of the budget, to be presented at the end of FY 2012-13. However, he felt that there would not be any improvements if current macro-economic remain same for the entire year.
Overall, the automobile industry in total witnessed a decline of 13 per cent in January this year, with Tata Motors, Toyota Kirloskar and Ford India suffering the worst. Top manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) reported a loss of 1.06 per cent in total sales, having sold 1,14,205 units in January 2013. However, domestic sales for the company grew by 2 per cent to 1.03 lakhs, as compared to 1.01 lakhs recorded in January 2012. Like MSIL, Hyundai Motor India registered a rise of 1.2 per cent on January 2013, with 34,302 units sold as against 33,900 in the same year-ago period.
