Not only car sales in India, but arrest of Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn has also created a lot of trouble for Japanese carmaker globally
The Indian auto industry is going through a turmoil and the effect can be seen in the recently revealed car sales data of May 2019. One of the worst hit car manufacturers is the Japanese carmaker Nissan Motors witnessing a dip of 47 Per Cent in the sales.
Nissan managed to sell only 1858 units in May 2019, as compared to 3569 units sold during the same period last year. The sales data comprises of cumulative sales of both Nissan and Datsun cars, the budget arm of Nissan in India. The lean sales in the new financial year can be attributed to the high insurance cost, rural distress, general election and liquidity crunch in the market.
Also, urban markets like Delhi-NCR and Mumbai are opting for new-age transport solutions like car sharing and travelling short distances using hired cab services like Uber and Ola.
Not only Nissan, but all the auto brands witnessed a decline in sales as Maruti Suzuki reported 24% dip in Sales, Tata Motors reported 38% and Honda Cars India reported 28% dip in the sales.
The slump is likely to continue as the consumers can defer the buying decision in a hope of interest rate cut thanks to the new government formation after the 2019 Lok Sabha election results were declared a few days back.
The upcoming festive season starting September can be a factor too as most Indians prefer buying cars during the auspicious festive season from September to December. Nissan India also witnessed a sharp decline in car sales during April month.
Nissan is going through a rough patch both in India and in global markets. Nissan recently announced a strategic decision to sell only premium cars in India.
Under the new strategic initiative, Nissan launched the Kicks SUV in India. Nissan’s sub-brand Datsun continues to sell budget cars like Datsun Go and Datsun Go+.