2019 was worst year for automobile sector in decades

The Indian automobile industry faced its worst year in 2019 as it witnessed the worst-ever downturn of two decades with passenger vehicles sales sliding sharply on the back of declining demand, according to data in the public domain.

The prominent automobile companies of the Indian market have released the December 2019 car sales reports which shows an abrupt decline in the passenger, utility and small commercial vehicle segment.

The year saw major automobile manufacturers cutting down on production and on working hands.

Some of the carmakers showed some recovery in the month of December thanks largely to lucrative year-end discounts. The data are retrieved from the reports released by the companies.

“Heavy discounts and low-base of December last year pushed car sales up in the month of December. Also, manufacturers have announced price hike in January which could be another factor that has fuelled sales,” Automotive LVP Forecast’s Country Lead Gaurav Vangaal was quoted as saying by the media.

Tata motors observed a dip of 12 percent as compared to December 2018 when the domestic sale was 50,440 units, now in 2019 it has been recorded on 44,254. The total sale on 2018 was 497, 972 which declined to 30 per cent low on 2019.

In December, car company Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) sold 39,230 units which registering a decline of 1 percent.

Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) has sold at 37,953 units which is a 9.8 percent decline in domestic sales last month.

"The year 2019 has been a challenging year for the Indian automotive industry. As we gear-up for a significant year 2020, we will offer BS VI in both petrol and diesel engines across different models in our product portfolio," said Tarun Garg, Director - Sales, Marketing and Service, Hyundai Motor India Ltd.