Passenger vehicle sales registers DOUBLE-fold increase in September: Festive season effect?

India is the fourth-largest auto market in the world currently, and the sales for passenger vehicles in the Indian market have nearly doubled for the month of September this year. The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has revealed the numbers, and it confirms that the Indian market witnessed sales of 3,07,389 vehicles last month. The production of automobiles in the county has also seen an increase of roughly 88 per cent with 3.72 lakh units produced last month. Despite the challenges like pandemic and semiconductor chip shortage, the Indian automotive industry is showcasing consistent growth. It should be noted that the festive season demand has also helped the industry with beefed-up numbers.

Demand has also been propped by the festive season, which typically starts around the month of October when many Indians make big-ticket purchases. "Recent increase in the prices of CNG fuel, higher repo rates and the Russia-Ukraine conflict are of concern and could impact the market in the coming months," SIAM President Vinod Aggarwal said.

Passenger vehicle sales across the July-September rose 38.4% to 1,026,309 units, SIAM said. Two-wheeler sales, a good indication of rural buying power, rose to 12.9% for 1,735,199 units and 13% for the quarter." Off-take of entry-level two-wheelers and entry-level passenger vehicles have been of concern especially as the rural demand has not picked up," said Rajesh Menon, director general of SIAM. Monthly sales for mopeds fell nearly 23% to 47,613 units.

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Furthermore, luxury carmakers have seen a hike in sales. The country’s largest luxury car brand, in terms of sales, has already surpassed the numbers it presented on the tally for the CY2021 in just 9 months of the calendar year 2022. As per Mercedes-Benz, it sold 11,469 units in CY2022 till September, whereas in the last year, sales stood at 11,242 units only for the complete CY21.

With inputs from agency