Economic Times cited the government saying that the production of passenger cars marginally declined by 1%YoY to 15.9 lakh in April to November 2012 due to factors including slow economic growth and high interest rates.
Mr Praful Patel minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises said that"Due to the increase in fuel price,low GDP growth rate,exorbitant material cost,high interest rates and slow economic growth,the production growth has reduced to a marginal 1 per cent during April to November 2012-13 against its corresponding period in the last fiscal."
Mr Patel said that"Out of the 16 car manufacturers,nine companies have reported decreased production,three more companies have reported only marginal growth and only four companies have been doing well."
He said that among the companies which registered a production decline in the first eight months of the current fiscal,Fiat India Automobiles witnessed a 47%drop in output,followed by Mercedes Benz India 26.8%,General Motors India 23.7%and Volkswagen India 23.2%.
However,he,added that companies which performed well in terms of cars production during the period under review include Renault India which registered a YoY growth of 616%,Honda Cars India 83%and Toyota Kirloskar Motor 19.8%and Nissan Motor India 13%.
According to the SIAM,he said,passenger car production in India was growing at a rate of over 17%during the last 10 years.
He further added that to boost the production of cars,various steps have been taken in pursuance of Automotive Mission Plan and the new Foreign Trade Policy provides additional incentives.
