Pent-up demand helps July PV sales stay on road to recovery
Sales grew 14.16% sequentially in July as more dealerships resumed operations with lifting of curbs
NEW DELHI: India’s passenger vehicle industry stayed on the recovery path with sales growing 14.16% sequentially in July as more dealerships resumed operations with lifting of lockdown curbs while pent-up demand and preference for personal mobility continued to attract more buyers.
Sales grew to 264,442 vehicles, from 231,633 units in June, showed data issued on Wednesday 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.
Vehicle dispatches fell sharply during April and May as the country battled the raging second wave of Covid which forced shut dealerships and factories.
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. This faced a setback with the outbreak of the pandemic’s second wave earlier this 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 48042 units in July and Tata Motors posted a 25.19% 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.
“Amidst 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 passenger vehicle segment are still lower than the level of 2016-17; for twowheeler segment, still lower than the level of 2010-11; and three-wheeler segment has been pushed back by many years,” added Menon.
The auto industry came under pressure from the first week of April when Maharashtra began strict lockdown measures. Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and others followed suit. Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp Ltd, Hyundai and others either stopped production or reduced output significantly.
Some like Bajaj Auto Ltd, however, continued to operate with limited capacity to meet export orders. With a steady drop in infections, especially in north and south India, most automakers have resumed operations from the middle of May.