Passenger vehicle sales continue to improve in July

NEW DELHI: India’s passenger vehicle industry stayed on the recovery path with sales growing 14.16% sequentially in July. This was driven by more dealerships resuming operations with restrictions imposed to curtail the spread of coronavirus being lifted and pent-up demand and preference for personal mobility continuing to attract buyers.

Sales of all passenger vehicles grew to 264,442 units, from 231,633 units in June, showed data issued on Thursday by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam).

The industry body reports wholesales, or factory dispatches, every month and not retail sales.

Passenger car sales grew 7.16% sequentially in July to 130,080 units while utility vehicles recorded a 23.12% rise to 124,057 vehicles.

Passenger vehicle wholesales jumped 45% on a year-on-year basis in July from just 182,779 units in the same month a year ago.

Vehicle dispatches fell sharply during April and May as the country battled the raging second wave of Covid-19, which forced dealerships and factories to suspend operations.

Most passenger vehicle makers reported sustained recovery in retail sales in the March quarter though a global shortage of semiconductor chips affected operations, leading to high waiting period on certain vehicles and depleted inventory.

Companies thus began to operate in all three shifts when normal operations resumed from the second half of June last year.

Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest carmaker, recorded a 9.83% sequential rise in domestic sales at 136,500 vehicles. Sales of Hyundai Motor India grew 18.63% to 48,042 units in July and Tata Motors posted a 25.19% increase to 30,185 units.

Rajesh Menon, director general, Siam, said the automobile industry continues to face heavy headwinds in the form of global chip shortage and steep rise in commodity prices.

“Amid such challenging and uncertain business environment, the industry is trying to maximize production and sales. However, sales for the period of April to July 2021 for the passenger vehicle segment are still lower than the level of 2016-17, for the two-wheeler segment still lower than the level of 2010-11, and the three-wheeler segment has been pushed back by many years,” said Menon.