Two-wheelers, LCVs to drive Q3 auto sales growth up 20-22%

Moneycontrol Bureau

The road so far this fiscal has been full of speed bumps for passenger car makers. But good growth among two-wheelers and light commercial vehicles is expected to drive automobile sector's revenue up 20-22% from a year ago in the third quarter. The October-December quarter is usually a peak season for auto makers, sales are the best in the year. This time, however, sales, especially of passenger cars, were anything but satisfactory as a sharp rise in interest rates and high fuel prices led to slowing demand. The labour problems at India's top passenger car maker Maruti Suzuki's plant in Manesar only further added to the cup of woes. "The bells and whistles associated with the festive season were missing this year leading to below expectation volumes for the Indian automobile industry during the quarter" said Vineet Hetamasaria and Nikhil Deshpande of Pinc Research. Maruti Suzuki's volumes for instance declined over 27% year-on-year in the third quarter as a workers strike in its Manesar plant, hurt production schedule of one of its largest selling cars Swift. Sales of passenger cars have slipped about 1% from a year ago in the third quarter. "The PV industry continues to face the brunt of fuel price hikes and increased interest rates as most buyers are waiting on the sidelines and are postponing their purchases,