Passenger vehicle sales rise 9%, driven by SUVs

PUNE: Passenger vehicle wholesales in India rose 9.40 per cent year-on-year in August spurred by strong demand for utility models, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers or Siam said on Monday.

Siam reports monthly wholesales from factory gates to dealerships in India and not retail sales.

Total passenger vehicle dispatches to dealers jumped to 3,59,228 units last month from 3,28,376 units in August 2022.

Utility vehicle sales soared 34 per cent year-on-year to 1,81,825 units.

However, car dispatches on the other hand dropped 10 per cent to 1,20,031 units from 1,33,477 units in the same month last year. Van wholesales also dipped to 11,859 units from 12,236 units.

“Last month saw the highest ever August sales for passenger vehicles and three-wheelers,” Vinod Aggarwal, President at Siam, said in a statement.

Three-wheeler sales rose 69 per cent to 64,763 units in August as against 38,369 units in the same month last year. Two-wheeler dispatches increased to 15,66,594 units from 15,57,429 units.

“Two-wheeler sales remained at levels similar to a year ago,” Aggarwal pointed out, saying that the industry also witnessed good growth in the commercial vehicle segment last month.
 
He said, “Based on the performance of last month, we are even more optimistic for demand to pick up during the festive season, enabled by a positive economic outlook and the revival of monsoon after a deficit in August."

In the passenger vehicle segment, market leader Maruti Suzuki saw an increase of 16 percent in dispatches to dealers at 1,56,114 units from 1,34,166 units in August 2022.

Rival Hyundai Motor India dispatched 53,830 units to dealers as against 49,510 units in the same month last year.

Total vehicle sales in India in August stood at 19,45,182 units as against 18,77,072 units in the year-ago period, Siam data showed.