February passenger vehicle sales surge, for 7th month in a row

Sales of passenger vehicles accelerated for the seventh straight month in February, paced by both pent-up demand and an increasingly visible consumer preference for personal mobility options in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Passenger vehicle sales increased 18% to 281,380 units in February, data published by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed. Growth would be even higher at 23% (to 308,000 units) if the wholesale volumes of were included

To be sure, Mumbai-based Tata Motors has stopped reporting data on a monthly basis to SIAM. Automakers in India report wholesale dispatches from factories to dealers and not retail sales to customers. Sales of two-wheelers rose 10% to 1,426,865 units in the month under review. While wholesale volumes of scooters went up 10% to 464,744, those for motorcycles expanded 11% to 910,323 units.

“In February, passenger vehicles clocked a CAGR growth of 3.29% over the previous highest sales in the month of February, in the year 2018 of 2.55 lakhs, while in February 2020 the total sales were 2.39 lakhs,” said Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM said.

In the two-wheeler segment, 14.27 lakhs units were sold in February, resulting in de-growth of 5.41% CAGR from the previous highest sales in the month of February, in 2018 of 16.86 lakhs. In February 2020, the sales of two-wheelers were 12.95 lakh units, Menon said.