Passenger vehicle sales soar to 3.34 lakh units; May’s highest-ever

India’s domestic passenger vehicles sales in the second month of the current financial year surged by 13.54 per cent to 3.34 lakh units, the highest-ever recorded for the month of May, riding on robust demands for utility vehicles, the industry data showed.

Wholesale of sports utility vehicles (SUVs), excluding that of Tata Motors which shares its numbers quarterly, surged by 33.5 per cent to 1,55,184 units in May as compared to 1,16,255 units sold in the same month last year.

SUVs now account for more than half of total passenger vehicles sales in India. While there has been a sharp jump in SUVs sales, the demands for small cars remained sluggish.

According to data released on Tuesday by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the total vehicle dispatches across categories rose to 18.08 lakh units in May 2023 as compared to 15.32 lakh units recorded in the same month last year.

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The total production of vehicles that includes passenger vehicles, three-wheelers, two-wheelers, and quadricycles, stood at 21.24 lakh units during the month under review.

All the segments viz. passenger vehicles, two-wheelers and three-wheelers posted growth in double digits in May 2023 when compared with May 2022 data.

Two-wheeler domestic wholesales surged by 17.42 per cent to 14,71,550 units in May 2023 as against 12,53,187 units in the same month last year.

“We anticipate this trend to continue supported by the prevalent economic environment,” said Vinod Aggarwal, President, SIAM.

Three-wheeler wholesales jumped to 48,732 units during the month under review as compared to 28,595 units in May 2022, registering a year-on-year growth of 70.4 per cent. The growth looks impressive largely due to the low base. The sale of three-wheelers is still lower than 2018-19 levels.

Aggarwal highlighted the fast technological changes going on in the auto sector. “The Indian automobile industry is currently in a transition phase with new powertrain technologies offered to consumers ranging from Electrified, Bio-Fuels and Gaseous Fuel driven vehicles,” he said.

SIAM Director General Rajesh Menon said the sales of passenger vehicles in May 2023 is the highest ever recorded during the month of May.

While there has been a robust growth in auto wholesale in the recent months, the retail sales have remained sluggish since the beginning of the current financial year indicating inventory build-up.

SIAM tracks dispatches to dealers from car manufacturers. While SIAM data shows a robust double digit growth in passenger vehicle sales in the first two months of the current financial year, the retail sales remained muted.

As per data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), the retail sales of passenger vehicles in April 2023 was 1 per cent lower when compared with the same month last year. In May 2023, the retail sales of passenger vehicles increased by a sluggish 4.3 per cent against a robust 13.54 per cent surge in dispatches from manufacturers to dealers.