Why automobile retail sales in July remained muted despite positive wholesale figures

Key highlights:

• Good growth in automobile sales was mainly due to the wholesale sales at the dealership level
• Dealership stocked up on vehicles in July
• Retail sales for the full month they remained muted

The automobile industry reported healthy growth in sales during the month of July. This was due to the roll-out of the goods and service tax (GST) at the start of the month had led to a reduction in prices of vehicles which were passed on to the customers, apart from additional discounts that automobile companies may have offered to push sales.

Sales of car companies such as Maruti Suzuki rose by a strong 22.4%, while Tata Motors' sales was up 10.23%, Ford India was up 18.96%, Honda Cars up 21.74% and Volkswagen grew by 10.5%. In the commercial vehicles segment Tata Motors' sales was up 15% and Ashok Leyland grew by 14.19%.

GST gives good growth momentum to car sales in July