The auto industry is facing a grim situation, with July sales recording the steepest fall in 19 years. If the trend continues, the upcoming festival season may be a very dull one, it said.

According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the sector needs an immediate package from the Centre, and it needs to be implemented quickly to tap festival season sales.

Read: Passenger vehicles sales sink for ninth month in July

“The industry has not picked up sales even after so many months, despite all the efforts companies are making to promote sales,” Vishnu Mathur, Director General of SIAM, told reporters here. “The footfalls at the showrooms are not happening. If the government announces some relief package there could be a positive impact during the festival season.”

“But the package should come by August-end or early September. And if they announce something they should also implement it immediately... there should not be any gap between the two (announcement and implementation), he said.”


“Nothing like this has happened before... even while transitioning from BS-III to BS-IV. The market has not shrunk across the country like this. We have collected some data (of 15 companies) and seen job cuts of around 15,000 contract workers in the last three months,” Mathur said, adding that there have been more job cuts in the parts sector and at dealerships.

In July, sales across categories declined 18.7 per cent year-on-year. December 2000 had seen a 22 per cent decline in sales.............BL