The wholesale of passenger vehicles grew 11.14% in the country during January even as supply chain challenges continue to affect the functioning of the industry, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said on Thursday.
As per the data shared by the industry body, passenger vehicle dispatches by the manufacturers to the dealers stood at over 2.76 lakh units last month as against about 2.48 lakh units in January 2020. While car sales fell 1.16% to about 1.53 lakh units, sale of utility vehicles went up 37.26% to over 1.11 lakh units.
Two-wheeler sales grew 6.63% to nearly 14.30 lakh units, driven by 9% growth in scooter sales to about 4.54 lakh units, 5% increase in motorcycle sales to over 9.16 lakh units. Sales of electric two-wheelers grew from 27 units in January 2020, to 241 units in January 2021.
Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM, noted that the sales of over 2.76 lakh passenger vehicles in January 2021, was a CAGR growth of just 1.61% over the previous highest sales in January 2018 of 2.64 lakhs. Likewise, for two-wheelers, sales of 14.30 lakh units was a de-growth of 5.32% CAGR from the highest sales in January 2018 of 16.85 lakh.
“...the total sales from April to January period of passenger vehicles were still below 2014-15 levels and for two-wheelers it is below 2013-14 levels,” he said, adding that sales of three-wheelers continued to suffer a de-growth of 56.76% compared to January 2020, primarily on account of lower off-take of passenger three-wheelers.
“Supply chain challenges, including rising price of steel, unavailability of semiconductors and higher container charges, continue to be obstacles in smooth functioning of the industry,” Mr. Menon added.
