Passenger vehicle sales in India rose by 37.54 percent in June, the fastest monthly growth in nearly ten years, albeit low base of last year when customers postponed purchases expecting price cuts after GST rollout, inflating the growth rate.
According to the data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales rose to 2,73,759 units last month from 1,99,036 units in June last year. The previous fastest growth witnessed by the PV segment was in December 2009 when it grew by 50 percent. Domestic car sales were up 34.21 percent to 1,83,885 units as against 1,37,012 units in June 2017, SIAM said. "People postponed purchases last year during this period as they expected prices to come down following the rollout of GST. So, the growth we are witnessing this year is coming on a low base of last year," SIAM Director General Vishnu Mathur told reporters.
Sales of utility vehicles, cars and vans grew by 47.11 percent, 34.21 percent and 35.64 percent, respectively, during last month, he added. For the first quarter (April-June period) of the current fiscal, PV sales rose by 19.91 percent to 8,73,501 units as compared with 7,28,483 units in same period of last fiscal.
In June, market leader Maruti Suzuki India reported a growth of 44.4 percent in its domestic PV sales at 1,34,036 units. Rival Hyundai Motor India saw a growth of 20.79 percent at 45,371 units. Home-grown Mahindra & Mahindra registered a growth of 11.89 percent at 18,092 units, while Tata Motors saw its PV sales jump 56.75 percent to 20,610 units.
According to SIAM, total two-wheeler sales in June rose by 22.28 percent to 18,67,884 units compared with 15,27,509 units in the year-ago month. Motorcycle sales last month rose 24.32 percent to 11,99,332 units as against 9,64,729 units a year earlier. Market leader Hero MotoCorp posted a rise of 16.56 percent in its domestic motorcycle sales at 6,26,194 units as against 5,37,187 units in the year-ago month. Rival Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) sold 1,74,276 units as compared to 1,45,358 units in the same month last year, a growth of 19.89 percent. Bajaj Auto's motorcycle sales stood at 2,00,949 units compared to 1,08,109 units in June 2017, up 85.87 percent.
Scooter sales saw a rise of 20.96 percent to 6,01,761 units, as compared with 4,97,478 units in June last year. Scooter sales had fallen by 1.4 percent to 5,55,467 units in May this year. Market leader HMSI saw its domestic sales increased by 33.29 percent to 3,61,236 units as against 2,71,007 units in the year-ago month. Chennai-based TVS Motors sold 99,107 units as compared to 86,296 units in June last year, up 14.84 percent. Hero MotoCorp's scooter sales stood at 63,755 units as compared to 75,482 units in the year-ago months, down 15.53 percent.
Sales of commercial vehicles were up 41.72 percent to 80,624 units in June, SIAM said.
Vehicle sales across categories registered a rise of 25.23 percent to 22,79,151 units from 18,19,926 units in June 2017, it added. For the first quarter, sale across categories rose by 18.01 percent 69,42,612 units as compared with 58,82,912 units in same period of 2017-18 fiscal. Total exports were up 26.73 percent to 11,94,627 units in the first quarter as compared with 9,42,663 units in April-June period of last fiscal. However, PV exports were down 7.37 percent to 1,67,161 units during the quarter as some of the leading exporters faced capacity constraints, SIAM Deputy Director General Sugato Sen said.
On the outlook for the rest of the fiscal, he said that tightening of interest rates and an increase in commodity prices were the biggest challenges for the PV segment. "However, PV sales are expected to grow thanks to upcoming launches. Two-wheeler sales are going to benefit from a normal monsoon and an increase in MSP. Besides, CV segment is going to benefit from enhanced government spending on infrastructure," he added.
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