Auto stocks tumble up to 9% as sales in India see sharpest fall in 19 years in July

New Delhi: Auto stocks tumbled up to 9 percent on Tuesday after industry body SIAM reported that automobile sales in India witnessed sharpest decline in nearly 19 years in July, dropping 18.71 percent, rendering almost 15,000 workers jobless over the past two-three months. Shares of Motherson Sumi Systems tanked 8.94 percent, Bharat Forge fell 6.13 percent, M&M plunged 6.11 percent, Bosch fell 5.43 percent, Eicher Motors declined 5.31 percent and TVS Motor Company fell 5.07 percent. Besides, Maruti Suzuki India fell 4.72 percent, Ashok Leyland declined 4.35 percent, Apollo Tyres fell 2.80 percent, Hero MotoCorp declined 2.14 percent, Bajaj Auto fell 1.51 percent and Tata Motors declined 0.04 percent on the BSE. [caption id=“attachment_7158481” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] The BSE auto index fell 3.88 percent to close at 15,438.01. As per data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), vehicle sales across categories, including passenger vehicles (PVs) and two-wheelers, stood at 18,25,148 units last month as against 22,45,223 units in July 2018. The previous biggest decline across overall domestic automobile sales was recorded in December 2000, when it fell 21.81 percent. SIAM Director General Vishnu Mathur said almost 15,000 jobs, mostly temporary and casual workers, have already been lost in automobile manufacturing companies over the last two to three months. Besides, over a million jobs are on the line in the automotive components segment, he added.