Utility vehicles boost auto sales by 17%

Pune: Wholesale passenger vehicle volume rose 17 percent in January to 2,98,093 units driven by robust offtake of utility vehicles, including the fast-growing sports utility vehicles, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers or SIAM said on Monday.

Wholesales of vans also increased to 11,834 units from 10,632 units in the year-ago period.

“Better consumer sentiment is driving demand for passenger vehicles,” SIAM president Vinod Aggarwal SAID.

SIAM director general Rajesh Menon passenger vehicles again saw highest ever sales in January and for the first time, it has crossed 3 million sales mark in 10 months, from April to January period.

In the April-January period of this fiscal, the total passenger vehicle dispatches stood at 31,69,788 units, up 32 per cent from 24,03,125 units in the same period of last fiscal.

Total two-wheeler wholesales in January rose 4 per cent to 11,84,379 units from 11,40,888 units in the same month last year.  “The rate of growth of two-wheelers in the recent year has not kept pace with the growth in the other segments,” he said.

Scooter dispatches grew to 3,76,035 units last month from 3,61,299 units in January 2022. Motorcycle wholesales were higher at 7,71,621 units as compared with 7,43,804 units in yearago period.

Moped sales rose to 36,723 units from 35,785 units in the year-ago period. Three-wheeler dispatches last month surged over two-fold to 48,903 units from 24,178 units in January 2022.

“Three-wheeler segment has gained traction compared to the past two years,,” Aggarwal noted.