Domestic passenger vehicle sales registered a growth of 37.54% in June — the fastest pace of monthly growth in almost ten years, driven by the lower base of last year coupled with strong demand for utility vehicles.
Passenger vehicle sales rose to more than 2.73 lakh units in June compared with more than 1.99 lakh units a year earlier, as per data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). Prior to this, the fastest pace of monthly growth was 50% in December 2009 for the segment.
Domestic car sales rose 34.21% to more than 1.83 lakh units, while sales of utility vehicles grew 47.11% to 73,654 units and those of vans stood at 16,220 units, rising close to 36%, data released on Tuesday showed.
“Last year, during this time, we had the GST coming in. Consumers postponed their purchase in anticipation of a drop in prices after its implementation. This, in turn, led to a drop in sales during the May-June period last year. So, the growth this year is coming on a low base of last year," SIAM director general Vishnu Mathur said.
Total two-wheeler sales in June rose 22.28% to more than 18.67 lakh units, while motorcycle sales rose 24.32% to nearly 12 lakh units, sales of scooters grew 20.96% to about 6.02 lakh units.
CV sales rise 41.72%
As per SIAM data, commercial vehicles sales rose 41.72% to 80,624 units last month, with medium and heavy commercial vehicles growing at 43.34% and light commercial vehicles seeing a growth of 40.76%.
During the first quarter (April-June) of 2018-19, passenger vehicle sales rose 19.91% to more than 8.73 lakh units, commercial vehicles grew 51.55% to over 2.30 lakh units and two-wheelers saw an almost 16% rise to 56.77 lakh units. Passenger vehicle exports, however, declined 7.37%.
SIAM deputy director general Sugato Sen said that tightening of interest rates, increase in commodity prices and abrupt policy changes continued to be a challenge for the sector this year.
However, he added that passenger vehicles are expected to grow, backed by new model introductions, improving consumption and strong rural sentiment.
“Two-wheeler sales are expected to benefit from normal monsoons, and an increase in MSP, while enhanced government spending on infrastructure should help the commercial vehicle segment,” he added.
