"Some studies tell us [that it is the result of ] the mindsets of millennials, who now prefer not to commit to an EMI to buy an automobile and instead would prefer to have Ola or Uber or take the metro," the minister stated on Wednesday during a media interaction in the Indian city of Chennai.
The minister made the remark commenting on statistics that showed that the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) had experienced a dip of 31.57% year-on-year (to 196,524 units) in August.
Millennials, however, were not happy with the minister's accusations and were quick to object with an avalanche of reactions on Twitter.
That is worst & most childish excuse that you can't expect from the @FinMinIndia @nsitharaman
— Abhishek Sinha (@abhisinha0629) September 11, 2019
One should know that when there is no job or least money to spend in the hand of common people how they can spend in depreciating assets like automobile.#LameExcuse
Lame excuse by @nsitharaman @FinMinIndia
— Murugesan Chinnapa (@murugesan999) September 11, 2019
When you you don’t understand to utilize 800 millions of unproductive strong hands of age group of 25 to 45 years in our country, how do expect the industrial or GDP growth.
You need more intellectual working than sincere.
Car sales down because millennials are using Ola and Uber.
— IMRAN KHAN (@imranmkkhan) September 10, 2019
Going by the above logic, why is there no decline in #NirmalaSitharaman's comical excuses even when millennials prefer Netflix and Amazon Prime for entertainment?
Several Twitter users shared jokes and clever plays on words related to the statement made by the minister, prompting #SayitLikeNirmalatai to trend on Twitter.
Tourism is down because people are seeing photos and videos of places online.#SayItLikeNirmalaTai
— Vidyut (@Vidyut) September 10, 2019
Dog biscuit sales are down because dogs are figure conscious these days. #SayItLikeNirmalaTai
— Rupa Gulab (@rupagulab) September 10, 2019
Air India is having losses because millennials are using weeds to get high.#SayItLikeNirmalaTai
— Subham Dutta (@BitSubham10) September 10, 2019
Air India is in losses as more companies prefer their people to do Skype meetings #SayItLikeNirmalaTai
— Critical Indian Citizen (@crtclctznin) September 10, 2019
Others Tweeted hilarious posts, trolling the finance minister and resulting in a meme-fest on Twitter.
How did they get there?#NirmalaSitharaman pic.twitter.com/izV0spVANA
— Rofl Republic (@i_theindian) September 10, 2019
Dear #NirmalaSitharaman ji, Trucks aren't selling either & last I checked, Millennials do not ride/buy Trucks and yet there is a decline!
— Desi Bhai | Desh Bhakt 🇮🇳 (@DesiPoliticks) September 10, 2019
Ola and Uber fault?
𝗞𝗮𝗯 𝘁𝗮𝗸 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗲 𝗪𝗔 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝘀𝗲 𝗸𝗮𝗮𝗺 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮 𝗷𝗶 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/JUhi5HrLA4
In contrast to what the minister had said, top industrialists Pawan Goenka and Rajiv Bajaj said that the crisis in the automobile sector is due to overproduction and stocking by companies
