INDIA’S top car maker has said that sales in November fell 18.5 per cent as the troubled carmaker partially recovered from a 53 per cent fall registered in October.
Domestic sales were down 19.2 per cent as the company continues to struggle with a demand slowdown in Asia`s third-largest economy caused by high interest rates and rising costs.
Maruti, 54.2 per cent owned by Japan`s Suzuki Motor Corp which lost $500 million (£318 mn) worth of production this summer due to strikes will likely see sales fall for the year to March 2012, its chairman said last month.
Japanese car sales in November rose by more than 20 per cent for the second consecutive month thanks to a low comparison base from last year while South Korean carmakers saw strong growth in overseas sales more than make up for falling sales at home.
Carmakers in Japan continue to recover production after the country`s March earthquake, but minimal sales growth for Honda Motor Corp illustrated the impact of recent flooding in Thailand, a major production base.
Automobile sales in Japan, excluding 660cc mini-vehicles, rose 24.1 per cent in November from a year earlier, data from a trade association showed.
October last year was the first full month after the expiration of government subsidies to replace cars older than 13 years.
Sales at top-ranked Toyota Motor Corp, excluding the Lexus brand, climbed 24.2 per cent, while Nissan Motor Co saw sales rise 25.4 per cent.
Honda, which was hit the hardest among Japanese carmakers by Thai floods cut production across the industry`s global supply chains, saw sales rise by only 1.5 per cent.
The flooding, along with a persistent strength in the Japanese yen and the ongoing global economic turmoil, are slowing the recovery of Japanese carmakers following the March 11 earthquake, analysts say.
"The yen staying strong and the drop in share prices are worsening company earnings," an official from the Japan Automobile Dealers Association told reporters.
"While it is up to how things will improve from hereafter, these are among the main issues for the auto industry."
