Passenger vehicle sales up 11% in Jan
Automakers dispatched more passenger vehicles to dealers for the sixth straight month in January, filling up retail channels after the robust retail sales seen in the October-december period. Factory dispatches during the month rose 11.14% from a year ago to 276,554 units, data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) on Thursday showed, as buyers snapped up compact cars and entry-level sport utility vehicles in rural, semi-urban and some parts of urban markets. In India, factory dispatches, not retail sales, are counted as vehicle sales. Indicating a sustained rise in urban demand, dispatches of utility vehicles grew 37.26% from the year ago to 111,494 units, as companies like Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, Kia Motors India Ltd and Tata Motors Ltd raised wholesales of their SUVS. Dispatches of passenger cars, however, fell by a marginal 1.16%.
NEW DELHI: Automakers dispatched more passenger vehicles to dealers for the sixth straight month in January, filling up retail channels after the robust retail sales seen in the October-december period.
Factory dispatches during the month rose 11.14% from a year ago to 276,554 units, data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) on Thursday showed, as buyers snapped up compact cars and entry-level sport utility vehicles in rural, semi-urban and some parts of urban markets. In India, factory dispatches, not retail sales, are counted as vehicle sales.
Indicating a sustained rise in urban demand, dispatches of utility vehicles grew 37.26% from the year ago to 111,494 units, as companies like Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, Kia Motors India Ltd and Tata Motors Ltd raised wholesales of their SUVS. Dispatches of passenger cars, however, fell by a marginal 1.16% to 153,224 units. The higher dispatches follow the low base of the previous year when demand fell following the economic slowdown and higher prices due to the change in emission and safety standards.
Among two-wheelers, scooter sales or dispatches, rose 9.06% to 454,315 units as economic activity in urban areas continued to recover, while the same for motorcycles grew 5.1% to 916,365 as demand for entry and executive segment motorcycles revived in the rural and semi urban markets, albeit on a low base. Overall, two-wheeler sales increased 6.6% to 1,429,928 units. When India began lifting lockdown restrictions, sales of two-wheelers were the fastest to pick up compared to other segments due to quicker demand recovery in the rural and semiurban areas compared to metro and tier-one cities. Over the last two months though, sales of entry-level motorcycles have softened as Covid-19 cases in rural areas have come down substantially and public transport has also resumed across the country.
“Jan’21 saw sustained demand across segments. With pent-up demand largely met, it would be critical for demand to sustain in 4QFY21 and beyond—considering the expected price hikes as well as opening up of public transport in many parts of the country. Current valuations suggest recovery is likely to sustain (our base case), leaving limited margin for safety from any negative surprises,” said analysts of Motilal Oswal Institutional Equities in a note.