Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that factors such as upcoming BS6 emission standards and centuries of priority for the purchase of cars for Ola and Uber have affected the Indian automobile industry.
The latest domestic sales fell by 23.55 percent to 18,21,490 units in August 2019, the latest SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) showed. Mammoth declined 31.57 percent in August 2019 to 1,96,524 units, with domestic sales of passenger vehicles declining for the tenth consecutive month.
The government recently announced several measures to bring some cheer to the automobile sector. According to recent announcements, BSIV vehicles purchased until March 31, 2020, will remain operational for the entire period of registration. The implementation of the one-time registration fee has been postponed till June 2020. Vehicles acquired by March 31, 2020, will have 30 percent depreciation. Various government departments have lifted the ban on the purchase of new vehicles. Also, the government will consider a junk policy, Nirmala Sitharaman.
“The automobile industry is now influenced by the mentality of BS6 and Millennials, who now prefer instead to commit to buying an automobile for Ola or Uber,” ANI quoted Sitaraman as saying.
The Finance Minister also said that the GST Council would decide on the demand of the auto industry to consider the reduction in tax rates. So far, automobiles are in the 28 percent tax bracket.
Total domestic passenger vehicle sales of the country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India declined by 36.1 percent to 93,173 units in August 2019. The figure stood at 1,45,895 units in August 2018. Hyundai Motor India domestic sales declined by 16.58 percent to 38,205 units in August 2018 from 45,801 units in August 2018.
Honda Cars India saw its monthly domestic sales decline by 51.3 percent to 8,291 units in August 2019. The company sold 17,020 units in the same month last year. Tata Motors’ local passenger vehicle sales declined 58 percent to 7,316 units in August 2019 from 17,351 units in the same month the previous year.
Mahindra & Mahindra’s total passenger vehicle sales touched a total of 13,507 units in the domestic market in August 2019. This was 32 percent lower than the 19,758 units disposed of by the company in August 2018.
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