Car sales drop for 9th month, temporary workers face the heat

August 12, 2013

Car_sales_drop

New Delhi, Aug 12: With car sales in India falling for a record ninth month in a row in July posting 7.4 per cent decline and that of heavy and medium commercial vehicles dipping for 17th month in succession, industry body SIAM today said auto sector has started retrenching temporary workers.

According to the latest data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), domestic passenger car sales declined to 1,31,163 units in July this year from 1,41,646 units in the same month of 2012.

While total sales of commercial vehicles dropped by 14.93 per cent to 55,301 units from 65,008 units in the year-ago period, heavy and medium commercial vehicles (M&HCV) sales were down 19.88 per cent at 18,611 units.

"It is a very serious situation for the industry. The original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have started adjusting temporary and casual workforce," SIAM Director General Vishnu Mathur told reporters here.

While he did not share the exact number of temporary workers affected by the downsizing, Mathur said: "In the manufacturing sector, not restricted to auto sector alone, companies by and large tend to keep more temporary and casual workers."

According to SIAM estimates, the OEMs employ a total of about two lakh workers, another five lakh by component makers while four lakh are employed at dealer and service centres.

While Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has already asked some of its temporary workers at the diesel engine plant at Manesar to go on indefinite leave, Toyota Kirloskar Motor also confirmed that it is "currently not renewing contracts of the temporary employees", without specifying details.

Mathur further said the demand slump has affected across the segments. "For the total passenger vehicles, including cars, July was the 8th straight month of decline. Similarly, for motorcycles and grand total of all categories, it was the 6th straight month of decline."

Total sales of vehicles across categories registered a decline of 2.08 per cent to 14,15,102 units in July 2013 as against 14,45,112 units in the same month of 2012.

He said in the wake of the continuous decline in automobile sales, SIAM has approached the government seeking stimulus package, including reduction in excise duty, fleet modernisation and put an end to ban on new government vehicle purchase that has been on since May last year.

The overall economic factors, high interest rates, fuel prices and low sentiments continue to hurt demand, although new model launches such as Honda Amaze, Ford EcoSport have been able to bring "some excitement in the market", he added.

In July, market leader MSI posted 10.88 per cent increase in its domestic car sales at 63,040 units, while that of rival Hyundai Motor India were down by 5.67 per cent at 25,939 units. Tata Motors' car sales were down by 59.59 per cent at 8,546 units during the month.

Mahindra & Mahindra's utility vehicle (UV) sales were down 30.10 per cent in the month at 14,503 units.

SIAM said the UV segment, which was doing well in earlier months, has been hurt by the hike in excise duty to 30 per cent. In July, the segment saw a decline of 17.53 per cent at 37,010 units.

"There is a correlation in the drop of UV sales and excise hike. It was growing at high double digits till March, when it grew by 34 per cent, but then in April it came down to a growth of just 3.99 per cent. Since then the segment has been struggling to grow," Mathur said.

According to the SIAM data, domestic motorcycle sales declined by 1.52 per cent to 8,09,312 units in the last month, from 8,21,821 units in the same month previous year.

Market leader Hero MotoCorp (HMC) posted a decline of 3.79 per cent at 4,20,397 units.

Bajaj Auto also saw a decline of 23.61 per cent at 1,53,173 units, while Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) saw its bike sales grow by 38.27 per cent to 1,40,611 units in July this year.

The scooters segment saw a growth of 9.80 per cent to 2,71,438 units during the month, SIAM said.

HMSI's scooter sales grew by 7.69 per cent at 1,35,584 units, while that of HMC jumped by 57.6 per cent at 56,798 units. TVS Motor Co saw its scooter sales decline by 13.94 per cent at 35,010 units.

Total two-wheeler sales in July 2013 declined by 0.06 per cent to 11,31,992 units from 11,32,696 units in the same period of previous year, SIAM said.

According to SIAM, three-wheeler sales in the country declined by 6.14 per cent at 41,570 units.

When asked if automobile sales could pick up in the festive season, Mathur said: "There is hope. We have had a good monsoon this year as we have said earlier. Companies are preparing for the festive season with new launches. We hope that there will be someting positive in the festive season."

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
April 16,2020

New Delhi, Apr 16: South Delhi District Magistrate Brij Mohan Mishra on Thursday said that the administration is investigating how the pizza delivery boy contracted the coronavirus.

"In the last 15 days, we discovered houses he had delivered food. We contacted people living in 72 houses and they have been asked to stay in-home quarantine. No symptoms have been seen in people related to him. 

Testing of his roommate has been done and his reports are awaited. The rest of the people don't have any symptoms, they have been placed under institutional quarantine. Those in-home quarantines are also asymptomatic," Mishra said.

"Unless a positive case comes, we feel that transmission has not taken place. The boy told us that he was continuously wearing a mask while delivering the food. We are also finding out how he got infected. We are getting the information about the places he visited for delivery. He was tested on the basis of the doctor's advice. Later, he tested positive," he said.

72 families have to stay in home quarantine in the Malviya Nagar area after the delivery boy tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said that 17 other delivery boys linked with the infected person have also been placed under institutional quarantine.

"A pizza delivery boy has been detected with COVID-19 here. 17 other delivery boys linked with him have been placed under institutional quarantine and 72 people have been placed under home quarantine," Jain said.

Food delivery app Zomato said that the staff of the infected person's restaurant has delivered some orders which were placed on its platform.

"We've been made aware today that a restaurant's employee, who has been recently tested positive for COVID-19, had delivered food in the past to a few customers in the Malviya Nagar area in Delhi. All these customers have already been contacted by the govt authorities... We are not sure whether the rider was infected at the time of delivery," the company said in a statement.

Zomato also claimed that colleagues of the delivery boy have tested negative for COVID-19.
"This restaurant had instructed their riders to wear masks and follow strict hygiene to keep customers safe from any unintended mishap.

All co-workers of the said rider have been tested negative. And as a precaution, the restaurant where this rider worked has suspended operations," read the statement.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 28,2020

Thane, Feb 28: Former BJP MLA Narendra Mehta was on Friday charged for allegedly  raping and harassing a woman corporator in Bhayandar, which is in the Thane district near Mumbai, on Friday, police said.

His associate Sanjay Tharthare has also been charged in the case, they said.

The district rural police lodged an FIR against Narendra Mehta, who resigned from the BJP three days ago, and his associate, an official from the Mira-Bhayandar police station said.

No arrest has been made till now.

A video of the corporator purportedly speaking about the alleged harassment and abuse she suffered at the hands of Narendra Mehta went viral on social media two days ago, the official said.

The corporator has alleged that the abuse is going on since 1999 and her family is facing threats from him, he added.

Narendra Mehta and Sanjay Tharthare were charged under relevant section of the Indian Penal Code for rape and other relevant provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, he said.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik demanded the immediate arrest of Narendra Mehta, saying it is a "tragedy" that the BJP, which raises the issue of women's safety in the state, has not taken any action against its leader.

"Law and order issue will arise if such a person (facing rape and harassment charges) roams freely. He should be arrested as soon as possible," Mr Sarnaik said.

The Thane legislator also termed Narendra Mehta as "Marathi-hater" and alleged that he had once questioned Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's culture.

"I wonder why the BJP did not take strict action against Mehta, it needs to introspect," Mr Sarnaik said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 4,2020

New Delhi, Feb 4: Senior BJP leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday accused Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party of not implementing the central government's schemes in the national capital.

Addressing an election rally in Moti Bagh, he also sought to allay fears over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), assuring the gathering that the legislation will not take away anyone's citizenship.

Singh alleged that the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government did not do anything in the last five years.

The AAP had promised to add 5,000 buses to the fleet of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), but instead the number has come down by 1,000, he claimed.

The Union minister said the AAP dispensation did not implement central schemes in Delhi fearing that the popularity of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government will grow among Delhiites.

Pension schemes and the Centre's flagship health insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat Yojana, are some of those that the Kejriwal government did not allow to be implemented in Delhi.

On the anti-CAA protests, Singh said that the opposition parties have been spreading "lies" about amended citizenship law and the National Population Register (NPR).

"The CAA will not take away anyone's citizenship. The opposition parties are spreading lies about the CAA. There should be no such politics over this. Some people are trying to write the history of the country with the ink of hatred," he said.

The culture of India is such that it considers the entire world one family, he said.

Delhi goes to polls on February 8. The results will be declared on February 11.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.