Sale of Passenger Cars Fall in 2018 July, Commercial Vehicles Register Growth

Unfavourable base effect dented the sales of domestic passenger cars in July 2018, data showed. According to the data furnished by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the sales of passenger cars slipped by 0.45 per cent to 191,979 from 192,845 in the corresponding quarter. The off-take of other sub-segments of passenger vehicle category such as utility vehicles declined by 8.95 per cent during the month to 79,092 units. However, sales of vans increased by 2.79 per cent to 19,889 units. Consequently, that overall domestic passenger vehicle sales declined by 2.71 per cent in July to 290,960 units from 299,066 units in the corresponding period in 2017.

In contrast, sales of overall commercial vehicles zoomed by 29.65 per cent to 76,497 units in July. The segment is a key indicator of economic activity. The data pointed-out that off-take of three-wheelers accelerated by 46.24 per cent to 60,341 units during the month. In addition, overall sales of two-wheelers, which include scooters, motorcycles and mopeds, climbed by 8.17 per cent to 1,817,077 units. As per the data, total sales of the Indian automobile sector rose by 7.97 per cent during July 2018 to 2,244,875 units across segments and categories.

The overall exports of vehicles across categories also edged higher by 26.01 per cent to 397,782 units. "Domestic PV volume declined by 2.7 per cent during July-2018, because of strike by transporters which impacted wholesale dispatches from OEMs to dealerships as well as high base of Jul-2017 when dealers restocked inventory post GST implementation; retail PV demand continue to remain healthy," said Ashish Modani, Assistant Vice President, Corporate Sector ratings, ICRA.

Sridhar V, Partner, Grant Thornton India said: "Passenger Vehicle sales degrowth is not significant if one were to consider a high base in July 2017 post-GST rollout." "One will have to look at the overall positive growth in the sector as an indication of continuing good times and with festival season to come we can expect it to be better going forward."