Month: March 2013

Vehicle sales prove a depressing point about the Indian economy


Please see the data below .  If you carefully examine the data ,  a few things are apparent ;

1. Sales drop in tractors indicate poor state of affairs in agri- rural India ( decline in agricultural sector )

2. Sales drop in Medium and heavy ( M&H) segment indicate actual decline in industrial output

3. Sales drop in light commercial vehicles (LCV ) indicate that the ‘Public sentiment’ is negative .

In the tractor segment 3,44,911 units were produced as against 3,72,282 units in the same period of last FY, registering  7% decline according to the data of Tractor Manufacturers Association [TMA].

As per the  data of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers [SIAM], total production in M& H segment was 2,11,530 vehicles against 2,72,400 in the same period of last financial year.

Source : http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/steep-fall-in-commercial-vehicle-production-in-apr-dec-113012500139_1.html

VE Commercial Vehicle sales down 20% in December

By PTI Jan 01 2013 , New Delhi

Tags: News
Automaker VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) today reported a 20.17 per cent fall in its total sales at 4,032 units in December, 2012.The company, which is a joint venture between the Volvo Group and Eicher Motors, had sold 5,051 units in the same month in 2011.Domestic sales decreased to 3,598 units in December 2012 from 4,512 units in the year-ago period, a decline of 20.26 per cent, VECV said in a statement.
Heavy commercial vehicle sales slipped by 27.80 per cent to 678 units from 939 units in December
Rajendra Pratap Gupta

Economy to grow 6 % ? Are we fooling ourselves !


Car sales in India slumped 25.7 percent in February, the biggest fall in more than 12 years and the fourth consecutive monthly slide, an industry body said on Monday, as sluggish economic growth continues to weigh on demand.

The industry is expected to see it first decline in annual sales in a decade as high interest rates and rising fuel costs in Asia’s third-largest economy put off buyers in a market that was once one of the world’s most promising.

Automakers sold 158,513 cars in India last month, data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed. Car sales are down 4.6 percent for the first 11 months of the fiscal year ending in March, it said.

“There is no improvement in the market sentiment. People have more or less stopped discretionary purchases,” Sugato Sen, deputy director general of SIAM told Reuters.

“This has really impacted the bottom of the pyramid, people who buy the smaller cars,” he said, referring to the slowing economy that is expected to grow 5 percent, a decade low. “That is getting reflected in the numbers.”

http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/03/11/india-autos-cars-idINDEE92A04R20130311

Our Finance Minister is now doing road shows in Hong Kong, Japan etc to attract investors ….. If the Finance Minister of India has to take to road shows, Indian economy is entering a ‘No show’ time ……

This is what i have been writing for the past one year ……..Wake up call for our ‘Learned Handicapped’ Politicians, who are disconnected from the ground realities

Rajendra Pratap Gupta

http://www.commonmansblog.com

Budget 2013-14


I am not an economist , so in case, my predictions go wrong ( so far, i have not been wrong on a single occasion ), i do have an option to take refuge in my lack of educational qualifications in the Economic theory unlike the proficient doctors of economics do at PM’s office , Planning Commission & the Finance ministry …..

My belief is that in 2013-14;

1. This Government will struggle to revive growth

2. Inflation ‘might’ ( 50 % chances ) come down a bit , as consumption story of India will go down

3. Manufacturing sector will slow down

4. Fiscal deficit will increase, and might create a balance of payments problem , or the Government will open more avenues for FDI ( or bend to the demands of the industrialists )

5. Tax collections will go down

6. Divestment target will not be met under the current situation unless some more ‘targets’ are divested

7. India might face a ‘security threat’ before the next elections

8. Investor confidence cannot be revived due to ‘Governance deficit’ and ‘Scamful’ Government at the centre .

Also, you can expect this Government to come out with injecting ‘Oxytocin’ in the economy as mentioned in my earlier blog ….. but this will be a short-term story, and will further dent the strength of the economy

Overall, not a good omen for job seekers and this nation . Hopefully, this will be the last budget for Congress

Rajendra Pratap Gupta

http://www.commonmansblog.com