Wholesale vehicle sales in the country declined by a little more than 19% in February 2020, as consumer sentiment remained subdued amid economic slowdown and upcoming transition to BS-VI norms, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said on Friday.
“The automobile industry continues to face hardships due to a steeper decline in production and wholesale dispatches in all segments in February 2020,” said Rajesh Menon, director general, SIAM.
Vehicle sales across categories stood at more than 16.46 lakh units in February 2020 versus more than 20.34 lakh units in February 2019, according to SIAM data. Rajan Wadhera, president, SIAM, added, “The decline in wholesale dispatches is primarily due to the economic slowdown and lower production of BS-IV vehicles.” He also warned that supply chain disruptions from China was additional cause for concern and may hit production plans of companies, going forward.
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Domestic sales of passenger vehicles ( including cars, vans and utility vehicles) dropped 7.61% in the last month to over 2.51 lakh units from more than 2.72 lakh units. The data showed that car sales were down 8.77% to about 1.56 lakh units while that of vans was lower by 32.76% at 11,880 units. However, sales of utility vehicles were almost flat at 83,351 units.
Total two-wheeler sales in February fell by 19.82% to more than 12.94 lakh units compared with over 16.14 lakh units in the same month last year. While motorcycle sales tumbled 22% to 8.16 lakh units, scooter sales dipped 14.27% to 4.22 lakh units. Sales of commercial vehicles were down by almost 33% to 58,670 units against 87,436 units sold in the same month last year.
Companies dispatched 35,245 units of light commercial vehicles, down 28%, and 20,425 units of medium and heavy commercial vehicles, a fall of over 40%.
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On Thursday, Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) had said that the retail sales — as measured by vehicle registration numbers — grew 2.60% to over 17.11 lakh units in February 2020. While sales of passenger vehicles declined by 1.17% to over 2.26 lakh units, that of two-wheelers and commercial vehicles were up 1.52% to 12.85 lakh units and 13% to 92,805 units, respectively.
Mr. Wadhera said some upside on the registration numbers can be attributed to last minute purchase by customers trying to advance purchase of BS IV vehicles.