Car sales grew 6.88 percent in the first half of 2018-19 due to a slump in July-September period. The September sales qualified as the sector's biggest monthly slump this fiscal. This dip prompted automakers body SIAM to take a conservative outlook for the fiscal signalling a slowdown in the sector.
Passenger vehicle sales declined for the third straight month and contracted by 5.61 percent in September.
In total, car sales dropped by 3.6 percent in July-September after a stellar 20 percent growth in the April-June quarter. Sales dropped 2.71 percent in July followed by a 2.46 percent contraction in August.
The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers contained its growth forecast for 2018-19 to 9 percent from the earlier spread of 9-11 percent.
Passenger vehicle sales during the April-September period stood at 17.44 lakh units against 16.32 lakh units in the year-ago period, showing a moderate growth of 6.88 percent driven by new launches and rural demand.
In the first half of the fiscal, passenger vehicle sales have grown 6.88 percent and for the second half also while the outlook is positive, sales will be "slightly" higher or similar, SIAM President Rajan Wadhera told reporters in New Delhi.
"For the entire fiscal, we had a forecast of 9-11 percent growth but we are now looking more at the lower end of around 9 percent," he added.
Domestic car sales also grew 6.8 percent to 11.69 lakh units in the April-September period of 2018-19 as compared with 10.95 lakh units in the same period of 2017-18, data released by SIAM suggested.
Wadhera hopes the sales growth would further improve with the onset of festive season.
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