The muted expectation of dealers come at a time when vehicle manufacturers such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor, Mahindra & Mahindra and others reported a double-digit fall in wholesale dispatches to dealerships in July and August.
Retail sales of passenger vehicles - the largest component of the pie - jumped 11 per cent year-on-year in October to 248,036 units, largely because of discounts offered during Navratri and Diwali.
Liquidity continues to be a worry for both, customers and dealers, with the latter facing working capital issues.
Dealers say that the full-year outlook remains negative with a projected contraction in retail sales of 15-35 per cent across segments, save tractors, which look set to clock a positive annual growth.
At the end of May, out of 26,500 outlets about 60 per cent showrooms and 80 per cent workshops were operational across the country.
While commercial vehicle (CV) sales were the worst hit, down by 21 per cent to 67,793 units from 85,833 units, two-wheeler sales dropped by 16 per cent to 12,64,169 units from 15,00,545 units. Passenger car sales dropped nine per cent to 215,716 units from 236,586 units.
PV registrations in this year's festive period stood at 287,717 units as against 333,456 units in the corresponding period last year, down 14 per cent. Two-wheeler registrations also fell by 13 per cent to 15,83,276 units as against 18,11,703 units in the year-ago period.
Factors like high fuel prices, higher insurance cost and firm interest rates kept buyers away, especially in case of passenger vehicles.
Automobile dealers' body FADA said the Budget lacked immediate demand boosters for the automobile industry.
Increasing the duties on auto parts and putting an additional cess on petrol and diesel could drive up costs of vehicles, specially where volumes are low and localisation is not viable.
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