CARBLOGO

Moneycontrol Bureau After a scorching 30% sales growth in 2010-11 (April-March) passenger car sales in India are likely to slow down to 10% in the current fiscal year, as consumers hit by increased loan rates and a sharp rise in petrol prices apply brakes on their buying plans, according to Edelweiss Securities. Commercial vehicle sales are also likely to grow at a slow 8% in 2011-12, compared with 27% last fiscal year amid tightening liquidity, a likely slowdown in the economy and slackening road building and construction activity, the brokerage said Monday. "Already, we have seen car interest rates rising by more than 250 basis points in the past one year to 11.5%. Our economy team believes that RBI may raise interest rates by another 50 bps, which will put further strain on auto interest rates thus adversely affecting the demand," Edelweiss said. Auto sales in India have already lost speed, data for April and May shows. According to SIAM (Society of Indian Automobil...

Car sales in India posted the slowest growth rate in 22 months in April this year at 13.18% as rising interest rates and declining consumer confidence impacted automobile sales across the country. According to figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) today, domestic passenger car sales stood at 1,62,825 units in April, as against 1,43,862 units in the same month last year."The April, 2011, sales growth rate was the slowest since June, 2009, when the growth rate was 8.23%. Consumer confidence is low as economic parameters are wobbly at the moment," SIAM Senior Director Sugato Sen told reporters here. He said interest rate hikes, coupled with the increase in prices of vehicle due to rising commodity prices, have also contributed to postponing of purchases. Total sales of vehicles across categories registered a growth of 22.80% to 13,38,564 units in April as against 10,90,041 units in the same month last year, SIAM said. In the passen...