MUMBAI: Car sales in India fell by over 10 percent in April, industry data showed Friday, as the country's once red-hot car market reels from high ownership costs, costly fuel and an economic downturn.
The sales drop was the sixth monthly fall in a row and marked the longest stretch of decline since the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) began keeping records six years ago.
"We have never seen a successive monthly decline of six months," said SIAM's senior director Sugato Sen, who called the latest numbers "not good".
Domestic passenger car sales, seen as a pointer to overall economic health, fell by 10.43 percent to 150,789 vehicles in April from 168,354 units in the same month a year earlier.
Sluggish demand has forced automakers to introduce "buy now, pay later" schemes, interest-free repayments and double-digit discounts.
Sen said he expected the market to remain sluggish for another two to three months, but added that demand could pick up once auto loans become cheaper.
India's central bank last week cut its main interest rate by 25 basis points -- its third such reduction this year -- in an effort to kickstart economic growth.
The Congress-led government expects at least six percent growth this year after the economy grew by an estimated five percent in the previous year, its lowest rate in a decade.
Domestic passenger car sales fell by 6.7 percent in the year to March 2013 from a year earlier to 1.89 million units, the first time they had shrunk in 10 years.
India's car sales are projected to grow by three-to-five percent for the 12 months to March 2014, according to SIAM, but this is far below the record 30-percent rise notched up in 2010-11.
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