Anticipating some recovery in demand during the upcoming festival season, automobile makers witnessed a positive growth in dispatches to the dealers with passenger vehicle sales rising 14% and two-wheeler sales increasing 3%, industry body SIAM said.
As per the data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), wholesale sales of passenger vehicles in the domestic market stood at 2,15,916 units in August 2020, a growth of 14.16% from 1,89,129 units in August 2019.
Likewise, sales of two-wheelers were up 3% to 15,59,665 units as compared to 15,14,196 units in the same month last year. While motorcycle sales were up 10% to 10,32,476 units, scooter sales declined 12% to 4,56,848 units.
Kenichi Ayukawa, the newly elected president of the industry body said, “We are beginning to observe growth which is instilling confidence back into the industry, especially in the Two-wheeler and the Passenger Vehicle segments.”
He, however, added that even though the industry witnessed year-on-year growth in August 2020, the base figures in August 2019 itself was very low, as industry had shown a de-growth of about 32% for Passenger Vehicles and 22% for two-wheelers in 2019, over 2018.
“Still, 14% growth of Passenger Vehicles and 3% growth in Two Wheelers in August 2020 indicates trends of recovery for the industry, though it is on the backdrop of pent-up demand and beginning of a festive season this month,” Mr. Ayukawa, who is also the MD and CEO of Maruti Suzuki, said.
The three-wheeler segment, however, continued to slide with a decline of 75% in sales to 14,534 units from 58,818 units in August 2019.
Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM said “After a period of lull owing to the COVID-19 imposed lockdowns, the month of August 2020 has witnessed improvement in the sales figures of Two-Wheelers and Passenger vehicles… Industry is positive that the coming festive season will pave the way for a faster revival of the industry.”
SIAM did not release monthly sales data for commercial vehicles. The industry body had earlier announced the decision to share commercial vehicle data only on a quarterly basis.