Domestic passenger vehicle sales rise 23% in December quarter

Automakers sold 235,309 passenger vehicles in December compared with 219,421 a year earlier, data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed.

The sales growth would be slightly higher – at about 8% – if the sales figures of Tata Motors are included. The company has stopped reporting data on a monthly basis to SIAM. Auto makers in India mostly report wholesale dispatches from factories to dealerships and not retail sales to customers.

Overall, passenger vehicles sales in 2022 increased by 23% to a record 3.79 million units. Sales of commercial vehicles increased by 37% to 0.93 million units while that of two-wheelers climbed by 7.4% to 15.60 million units.

“Passenger vehicles have reported highest-ever sales of 3.8 million units, which is about 400,000 units higher than the last peak in 2018,” said Vinod Aggarwal, president of SIAM. “Commercial vehicles reported sales of 933,116 units, which is just about 72,000 units lower than the earlier peak in 2018. Three-wheeler sales are still lower than 2010 sales and two-wheeler sales lower than 2014.”

Sales of three-wheelers stood at 418,341 units last year, an increase of 58% over the previous year.

“Compared to the last calendar year, growth in commercial vehicles has been noteworthy,” said Aggarwal. “L5 category of three-wheelers has recovered well, although from a low base of the previous year, while two-wheelers have grown at a much slower pace in this calendar year, compared to the other categories of vehicles.” In the third quarter of FY23, passenger vehicle sales grew by 23% compared with the year-ago period. The growth was 17% for commercial vehicles, 68% for three-wheelers, and 6% for two-wheelers.

“The festive season has helped in returning good sales numbers for all the segments. However, weakness in rural demand continues, as high food inflation and increased financing cost is impacting the rural market,” said Rajesh Menon, director general, SIAM.