place in the last week of december as companies try to prune inventories at the yearend but weak demand may have forced these automakers to advance the shutdown some carmakers such as hyundai ford and honda cars india are operating at full capacity thanks to good response to new models and rising exports in the first half of the festive season which saw the festivals of onam and ganesh chathurti among others there was a marginal uptick in volumesnonetheless sales of passenger vehicles for the first six months of fy14 declined 5 even before navratri inventories were high at around 68 weeks in case of some brands despite a pickup again on account of buying during navratri and dussehra passenger vehicle sales declined marginally in october by about 12 to 228lakh units the only segment that saw growth was utility vehicles which posted a growth of 56 units led by ford ecosport total sales were just over 55000 units it is very unusual for the companies to shut down in november it could be an indication of stock buildup at the plant for some of these manufacturers on a wholesale level the sales in the month of october have declined the buying was relatively better during the festive season but not as good as has traditionally been the case where one sees a growth in double digits said a senior executive at an mnc who spoke on condition of anonymity the only manufacturers posting decent sales numbers are the ones with new models such as hyundai grand i10 honda amaze and ford ecosport or those with a deep rural reach like maruti suzuki the models recently introduced are doing reasonably well otherwise it is a lacklustre market the inventory levels are not decreasing the inventory levels at the plant and stockyards are high that is precisely why one is seeing immediate inventory correction said ms kochar advisor to federation of automotive dealers association there has been a marginal improvement in sentiment during the festive season walkins have increased and the sales numbers have crossed 200000 units in october but with the festive period over the rest of the year looks tough say industry players the marginal sales rebound seen in septemberoctober is on account of the festival season combined with the emerging demand for new models we feel that the industry is under stress and basis the initial feedback for the month the industry will again show a decline vs last year although november and december are low months we are going to be at par with november last year although the industry in general is expected to be down besides customers also postpone their purchase decisions in the months of november and december seeking model year change said balendran