As India goes to polls, vehicle purchases have slowed down, with sales across vehicle categories plummeting in the first month of FY2020.

The industry has registered substantial de-growth in sales across passenger vehicles in April 2019, what with subdued buyer interest and poor market sentiments in lieu of the undergoing general elections.

While the slowdown is an extension of the tough festive season of FY2019, industry experts don’t foresee any progressive shift in performance until the next quarter of the ongoing fiscal. Where high fuel prices, low availability of funds and escalating acquisition costs have led to disinterest in most rural places, urban customers are finding more convenience in shared mobility, which is increasingly replacing new car ownership in the country’s key Tier 1 cities.

All key vehicle segments reported weak performance last month with passenger vehicles (PVs) and two-wheelers going into a double-digit dip. Cumulative sales amounted to 2,47,541 units, down 17.07 percent from the 2,98,504 units in April 2018. Sales across all vehicle types stood at 20,01,096 units, down 16 percent from 23,80,294 units last year.  

Within the PV segment, passenger cars observed a dramatic slump of 20 percent with a mere 1,60,279 units going home to buyers, as against the 2,00,183 units sold in April 2018. Moreover, UVs too saw a cut in demand with a 6.67 percent drop in sales, which were pegged at 73,854 units (April 2018: 79,136) by month end.

Almost all major carmakers are facing a crunch situation including the country’s leading carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, which declined as high as 20 percent by being able to only sell 1,31,385 units (April 2018: 1,63,434). While Hyundai Motor India dropped 10 percent with sales of 42,005 units (April 2018: 46,735) and UV major Mahindra & Mahindra only sold 19,966 vehicles (a de-growth of 9 percent), Tata Motors took a sharp beating and declined 26 percent to land at 12,694 units (April 2018: 17,236).

The only respite for the PV segment came from the export figures where it registered a growth of 11.6 percent year-on-year.