Factory sales of cars hit a July high

Synopsis

India’s passenger vehicle sales rose 34% year-on-year to a record 457,810 units in July, supported by improved affordability and strong CNG demand. Two-wheeler sales increased 23%, while three-wheeler volumes grew 33% during the month.

New Delhi: Car sales in India increased 34% last month to an all-time July high, as the benefit of improved affordability after the GST rate cut last year continued to support consumer demand.

According to data available with industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), automakers dispatched 457,810 cars, utility vehicles and vans, including electric vehicles, to dealerships last month. Since the beginning of this fiscal year, passenger vehicle sales grew by 25% in April, 27% in May and 24% in June. "Everything is growing, not only SUVs but also small cars. We are particularly seeing strong demand for CNG," said Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer, marketing and sales at car market leader Maruti Suzuki. Sales of two-wheelers increased 23% from a year earlier to 1,923,483 units in July. Three-wheeler volume rose 33% to 92,560 units. "India's auto industry delivered its strongest-ever July sales, with robust double-digit growth across passenger vehicles, three-wheelers and two-wheelers," SIAM director-general Rajesh Menon said.

Industry growth was buoyed by strong volumes at Maruti Suzuki, which posted 42% growth in sales to 196,203 units, the highest on record for the market leader. Tata Motors (58%), Mahindra & Mahindra (20%) and Hyundai Motor India (23%) also posted strong year-on-year growth.

In the two-wheeler segment, leader Hero MotoCorp posted a 22% increase in local sales to 501,403 units last month. In commercial vehicles, Tata Motors sold 33,876 units last month, a 28% increase from July last year.