According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), production growth for the automobile industry has shown even greater contraction in November 2008 — having fallen by 6.11 per cent over the same month last year — than in 2000-01 which was the last time all segments performed poorly, thereby confirming a slowdown in the auto sector. SIAM director general Dilip Chenoy said, “In our history, all segments have never been down so badly together in a month.”

Even the festival season, completely overshadowed by the ongoing global financial crisis, high interest rates and a credit crunch, was not enough to stop a decline in the sale of all types of commercial and non-commercial vehicles.

Domestic sales in November 2008 for passenger vehicles fell by 19.38 per cent over November 2007 to 83,059 units, from 1,03,031 with all sub-segments registering negative growth. The commercial vehicle segment whose sales are closely linked to industrial activity had even bleaker news to report with sales plummeting by 49.51 per cent this November over the same period last year to 20,637 units from 40,879 units. SIAM data revealed that medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) sales fell by 63 per cent with the sale of buses alone falling by 26 per cent. With the exception of June, bus sales have been falling steadily since April 2008. The sale of light commercial vehicles (LCV) also fell by over 33 per cent.

Even the usually dependable two-wheeler segment saw sales decline by 14.68 per cent to 5,67,502 units compared with 6,65,181 units in November 2007 — a clear indication that customers across income brackets have simply stopped purchasing automobiles. Motorcycle sales in the country during the month were down 20.24 per cent at 4,31,171 units, against 5,40,553 units in the corresponding month a year ago.