Sale of passenger vehicles in the domestic market declined for the first time in a month in 2018 skidding by 2.71 per cent in July. The decline was largely due to high base effect from last year when sales had peaked on account of reduction in duties in some segments, under the unified Goods and Services Tax. The last time sales had declined in a month was in October 2017 when it had dipped by 0.3 per cent. The high base effect due to GST is likely to impact sales growth for the next couple of months though the onset of festive season later this month may offset it partially.
"Last year in July, PV sales had shot up due to GST roll out. So, despite this drop in sales last month we are satisfied with the situation as we believe that all the industry segments are on a growth path," said Sugato Sen, deputy director general, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
In July, market leader Maruti Suzuki India reported a marginal decline in its domestic PV sales at 1,52,427 units while Korean rival Hyundai Motor India saw a growth of 1.1 per cent at 43,481 units. Home-grown Mahindra & Mahindra also registered a decline of 5.83 per cent at 19,739 units. Honda Cars India buoyed by the success of its latest launch, the new Amaze, and Tata Motors were the only outliers. Honda saw its sales grow by 16.89 per cent at 19,970 units helping it become the largest PV maker in the month, while Tata saw its sales jump 15.58 per cent to 19,410 units. Overall passenger vehicle sales stood at 290,960 units during the month.
However, there were no such worries in the domestic two wheeler segment. Sales in July rose 8.17 per cent to 18,17,077 units as motorcycle once again outpaced scooters. Mobike sales grew by 9.67 per cent to 11,50,995 units while scooters registered a rise of 5.12 per cent to 5,98,976 units.
Market leader Hero MotoCorp posted an increase of 12.18 per cent in its domestic motorcycle sales at 6,10,197 units. Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) registered a 3.02 per cent decline at 1,62,987 units while Bajaj Auto saw a 22.14 per cent growth at 2,01,433 units.
Commercial vehicle sales, a key barometer of the overall economy, also showed robust growth of 29.65 per cent at 76,497 units. Vehicle sales across categories grew 7.97 per cent at 22,44,875 units.
After few years of down turn, all segments of the industry are now showing growth and we expect it to continue over the next two years," Sen added.