'Sales volumes per manufacturer fall by 8.6% in last 3 years'

Declining sales, negative customer sentiments and unclear future growth has made the business climate more difficult not only for the vehicle manufacturers but also for the auto dealers, according to a study.

"Sales volumes per manufacturer have declined by 8.6 per cent in the span of last three years; this trend of declining sales per manufacturer has been observed for the first time in last decade," a study by consultancy firm Frost and Sullivan conducted on behalf of Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), said here today.

The study on "Competitive Benchmarking of OEM Practices for Passenger Vehicles Retail in India" aims at presenting a competitive analysis of the best OEM (original equipment manufacture) practices for passenger vehicle retail in the country and gives recommendations for improvements and sustainability of the business.

The new dealers find doing business more difficult as they grapple to break even in such market slow down conditions as compared to an established dealer, the report observed. Also, increasing interest costs due to higher inventory has triggered a discounting trend amongst the dealers, which has worsened the situation, it noted, adding, "Majority of channel partners are now under pressure to recover their investments profitably."

The study indicated that for a good number of dealers interviewed; the overall revenue has either declined or has just marginally increased in the span of last two years.

However, on the other hand the expenditures related to interest payments, rentals, manpower and marketing cost heads, have substantially increased during the same period, which has resulted in business losses or highly reduced profit margins, it said.

The study also observed that only established dealers, who are running business with self-owned property are successfully able to withstand the slowdown conditions; which for majority of the OEM's are their outperforming dealers. (MORE) PTI IAS ARS RAH 06041952