Auto industry sees further demand slump due to fuel price hike

17 May 2011 Evaluate

Carmakers may see a slowdown in sales following the biggest ever hike of Rs. 5 a litre in petrol prices last week, at a time when the market is already reeling under pressure from high interest rates on auto loans. Till diesel prices are de-regulated and a significant difference of prices between the two fuels exists, demand for diesel-driven cars will rise.

Car sales in India posted the slowest growth rate in 22 months in April this year at 13.18 per cent, mainly due to rising interest rates and declining consumer confidence. The country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) expects that if the fuel prices increase at this rate, the industry will suffer severely. For the next one to two months there will be a dip in demand. Usually the market rebounds after some time when there is a fuel price increase, but this time around it has to be seen how it reacts as. As such the market has already slowed down due to inflationary pressures.

Although disposable income may have gone up in the last few years, high inflation in recent times has left consumers with less spending power.

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