Hyderabad: The automobile sector, which was badly hit by demonetisation, will continue to be in a sorry situation for the next three months, as most prospective car buyers are waiting for the upcoming Union Budget and the implementation of GST.
Showrooms which offer high-end cars have seen a drastic fall in sales in the last three months. A few other manufacturers who offer small and medium cars have registered a 4 to 4.4 per cent drop in sales in the last quarter.
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A dealer and retired major, former chairman of AP Motor Vehicle Dealers’ Asso-ciation P.T. Chowdhary, said that there are no hopes of a drop in prices after the implementation of the GST.
“It’s the doldrums for tax in the GST for medium and super cars. A few models are facing a crunch at present. However, the shares of such companies have gone up,” he said.
“The two-wheeler sector, however, has experienced a sharp fall in sales due to various reasons,” he said.
Hyderabad joint transport commissioner J. Pandurang Naik said that the sales of all categories of vehicles have fallen. “Now, a majority of customers are waiting for sops in the Budget. Many are also waiting for the GST to avoid additional taxes,” he said.
Mr Naik said that the government was collecting Central taxes like customs and excise duty, VAT, Swachh Bharat and Krishi Kalyan cess and service tax apart from the road tax imposed by the state government. “Experts are hoping the 22nd amendment of the MV Act may give some exemptions in state road taxes,” he said.
K. Vijay Kumar, a techie from Madhapur, said that he had been planning to purchase a small car. “The Demonetisation stopped me. In December, my friends suggested the model of the car would get one year added to its age in a month if I purchased it at the year end. As Sankranti is believed to be inauspicious, I dropped the idea till January. Now, I’m waiting for the reduction in prices after the Central Budget and the implementation of the GST,” he said.
Registrations hit low
The average number of car registrations in Hyderabad city have come down to 13,000 from 21,000 and in Ranga Reddy it is 23,000 against 27,000 motor vehicles per month.
Hyderabad joint transport commissioner J. Pandurang Naik said that an average of 21,000 vehicles were being registered in the city for two years. “In October 2016, the flow continued with 22,966 registrations in all the five zones of the city. In November, the number came down to 14,639 followed by 13,036 (December). A few motorists who purchased vehicles in October got their vehicles registered in November,” he said.
Ranga Reddy district transport officer M. Praveen Rao said the three districts — Ranga Reddy, Medchal and Vikarabad — used to register 600 vehicles per day. It’s down by 20 per cent in the last three months.
In Hyderabad city, the average number of two-wheeler registrations is 16,000 per month and 17,190 motorcycles were registered in October. The number came down to 11,026 in Nov-ember and reduced to 8,402 in December.
