January passenger cars’ sales surge, two-wheeler’s decline: SIAM 

New Delhi, Feb 9:

The total domestic passenger vehicles sales rose by 14.40 per cent in January, however two-wheeler and commercial vehicle off-take dipped last month, industry data showed on Thursday.

The data furnished by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) pointed out that total sales of passenger vehicles, which include cars, utility vehicles and vans, surged to 265,320 units last year from 231,917 units sold during the corresponding month of 2016.

On the sub-segment basis, sales of passenger cars rose by 10.83 per cent in the month under review to 186,523 units from 168,303 units in January last year.

The utility vehicles’ off-take during the month zoomed by 24.47 per cent to 62,264 units, while the sales of vans edged up by 21.65 per cent to 16,533 units.

In contrast, the industry data revealed that sales of overall commercial vehicles came down by 0.72 per cent to 61,239 units in January. The segment is a key indicator of economic activity.

The three-wheelers segment sales plunged by 28.21 per cent to 31,345 units during the month.

In addition, overall sales of two-wheelers, which include scooters, motorcycles and mopeds, declined by 7.39 per cent to 1,262,141 units.

Product-wise, scooter sales in the month under review dipped by 14.50 per cent to 373,382 units, while the motorcycle sub-segment sales logged a decline of 6.07 per cent to 819,386 units.

On the other hand, mopeds’ off-take augmented by 28.83 per cent to 69,373 units.

The industry data disclosed that the Indian automobile sector reported a decline of 4.71 per cent during January 2017 — with total sales at 1,620,045 units across segments and categories.

Moreover, the overall exports across categories slipped by 7.67 per cent to 255,301 units which were shipped out during last month.

According to Abdul Majeed, Partner- Price Waterhouse, OEM’s (original equipment manufacturer) with waiting period on their vehicles have done well in Janauary.

“The automotive sales figures for January 2017 comprises of a variety of aspects. Some of the OEM’s who have launched new vehicles, who are having the waiting period have done well, resulting in an increase of primary dispatch to dealers,” Majeed said.

“However, the two wheeler and commercial vehicles segment has reduced growth due to the impact of demonetisation, especially in the rural markets.”

Majeed explained that customers remain cautious due to the uncertainties pertaining to the growth of the economy as well as the implementation of GST (goods and services tax).

“This quarter will be challenging for the overall growth of the automotive industry, but is expected to pick up in Q3 2017,” Majeed added. (IANS)