Domestic wholesales of passenger vehicles increased 29% in October driven by strong demand in the festival season. However, sales of two-wheelers were subdued due to higher inflation and rising interest rates, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said on Friday.
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Total passenger vehicle dispatches from companies to dealers rose to 2,91,113 units last month from 2,26,353 units in the year-earlier period, data from SIAM showed. Two-wheeler wholesales grew 2% to 15,77,694 units.
“Good market sentiment coupled with festive boost resulted in higher sales in October, especially for passenger vehicles,” SIAM president Vinod Aggarwal said in a statement, adding that higher inflation and rising interest rates had impacted the rural market more, thereby impacting the growth of the two-wheeler segment.
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Mr. Aggarwal said passenger three-wheelers were witnessing better offtake due to increased shared mobility in semi-urban and urban areas. Three-wheeler wholesales last month rose to 54,154 units from 31,812 units in the year-earlier period.
SIAM director general Rajesh Menon added that though passenger vehicles reported the highest-ever domestic sales in April-October 2022, sales of two-wheelers in these seven months were still lower than that seen in 2016.
“For three-wheelers it is lower than 2010. Similarly, exports of passenger vehicles continued to grow, while there has been a drop in exports of both two and three-wheelers,” he added.
Total vehicles sales last month stood at 19,23,032 units, up 6% October 2021. Total vehicle production was down 1.5% during the month to 2,191,090 units. As per SIAM data, while production of passenger vehicles was up 28.6% to 3,30,989 units from 2,57,179 units, that of two wheelers fell 6.4% to 1,773,857 units.