Motown July

Car sales remained weak in July as sluggish demand for petrol cars and the economic slowdown hit volumes, even as the lockout at Maruti’s Manesar plant threatens to depress numbers in August. High interest rates, another speed breaker, are also curtailing new purchases as customers postpone buys for later months. 
Maruti and Hyundai, the top carmakers, recorded single-digit growth in volumes in July. While Maruti’s volumes were up 7% at 71,024 units, the growth for Hyundai was 8% at 27,585 units against 25,642 units in the same month last year. 
Maruti has said that “pressures will continue” in the market for some more time as traffic remains low at dealerships. The lockout at Manesar after a violent workers’ protest on July 18 will further compound problems for the top carmaker as its best-sellers Swift hatchback and Dzire sedan have seen a halt in production. 
Hyundai also remains pessimistic. 
But the going was strong at Tata Motors and Mahindra, who thrive on demand for diesel vehicles. Tata Motors saw a 53% jump in volumes led by the Nano, Indica and Indigo range. For Mahindra, the growth was 27% at 22,011 units against 17,312 units in July last year. The slowdown bug hit companies like Ford, General Motors and Honda, all of whom are currently struggling in the domestic market. The decline was the sharpest for GM which saw a 23% drop in volumes at 7,285 units. Ford’s July volumes were down 17% at 6,236 units while for Honda, the numbers were down 7% at 4,386 units.