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  Business   Car sales dip after 14 months

Car sales dip after 14 months

PTI
Published : Feb 13, 2016, 3:48 am IST
Updated : Feb 13, 2016, 3:48 am IST

Car sales in India fell for the first time after 14 months of continued growth in January as discounts dried up during the month with automakers correcting inventory at dealer levels post year-end fre

Car sales in India fell for the first time after 14 months of continued growth in January as discounts dried up during the month with automakers correcting inventory at dealer levels post year-end freebies dole out.

According to data rele-ased by Society of Indian Automobile Manufact-urers, domestic car sales in January declined marginally to 1,68,303 units compared with 1,69,527 units in January 2015.

It is, however, bullish on the passenger vehicles segment to grow in the range of 8-12 per cent in the next fiscal. Overall passenger vehicle sales during the month grew marginally to 2,32,016 units in January as against 2,09,086 units in the year-ago period.

“There is a muted growth in passenger car sales in January. Growth declined as people advanced their buying to December due to record discounts offered by the companies. Also, there was correction at inventory levels during the month,” SIAM director-general Vishnu Mathur told reporters here.

He, however, termed the dip in passenger car sales a “temporary blip”. “We don’t expect it (dip sales) to be a long term phenomenon,” Mr Mathur said.

Rising for a 14th straight month, car sales in the country surged by 12.87 per cent in December as customers were induced by the auto industry into buying new vehicles by offering record discounts.

Location: India, Delhi, New Delhi