Indian car sales dive 16pc in July
NEW DELHI: Indian car sales slid nearly 16 percent in July from a year ago, their biggest drop since late 2008, as high interest rates kept buyers out of the showrooms, industry data showed Wednesday.
Sales last month fell 15.76 percent to 133,747 units from 158,767 in the same month last year, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) reported.
The drop was the steepest since November 2008 when economies across the world were hit by the financial crisis, SIAM said.
Car sales have been slowing in India as high borrowing costs have hit one of the world's fastest-growing auto sectors, which has attracted interest from major global players such as Ford, Renault, Volkswagen and Nissan.
Rising vehicle costs on the back of steeper commodity prices and 11 interest rate hikes by the central bank since March 2010 totame near double-digit inflation have combined to hit demand, analysts say.
Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
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