SIAM cuts car, truck sales forecast for FY13

Moneycontrol Bureau

Society of Indian Auto Manufacturers on Tuesday cut passenger car sales growth forecast for the year amid a slowdown in demand fuelled by expensive loans and high petrol prices. The Indian auto industry body now expects car sales in FY13 will grow at 9-11%, versus 10-12% it had forecast earlier. It also cut its sales forecast for commercial vehicles to 6-8% from 9-11% it had expected. SIAM, however, left its two-wheelers sales growth forecast unchanged at 11-13%. Passenger car sales have hit speed bumps over the last one year following several rounds of petrol price hikes and a rise in interest rates on loans. A rise in excise duty in the Budget also further hurt. More people are now preferring diesel vehicles, and demand for top selling diesel cars like Maruti Suzuki's Swift hatchback, DZire sedan and Ertiga multi-utility vehicle stretches up to six months. Sales of medium and heavy trucks have have been sluggish as fleet operators have postponed purchases due to high interest rates on loans and the overall economic slowdown. Two-wheeler sales have also slowed in the last few months. According to data released by SIAM, domestic passenger car sales rose  8.3% year-on-year to 1,55,763 units in July. This is the 8th straight monthly increase in sales. Commercial vehicle sales were up 4.7% to 64.926 units and two-wheeler sales rose 9.2% to 11,69,733 lakh units last month. Motorcycle sales were up 6.6% at 8,79,713 units. Total vehicles in June rose 9.1% to 14,85,744 lakh units, SIAM said.