The Hindu Business Line : Auto sector witnesses sluggish sales in July

New Delhi, Aug 9 The auto industry continued to witness sluggish sales even in July, with two-wheeler motorcycles sales falling by 17.24 per cent to 17,741 units and medium and heavy commercial vehicles sales down 7.32 per cent to 17,741 units.

However, the light commercial vehicles grew by 2.52 per cent to 33,496 units, while scooters and scooterettes grew 14.81 per cent to 87,830 units, according to figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) on Thursday.

TVS Motor took the biggest hit in the motorcycles segment, recording 41.30 per cent dip in sales to 35,237 units (60,031 units).

Hero Honda, the largest player in the motorcycles segment, recorded a fall of 14.49 per cent to 1,86,848 units (2,18,515), while competitor Bajaj witnessed a sharper decline of 17.20 per cent to 1,16,305 units (1,40,465 units).

“There is a stock correction happening, as a result of which retail-level sales are picking up despite manufacturers recording such a sharp decline in sales,” said a Hero Honda dealer.

The passenger cars segment recorded 11 per cent growth with sales at 89,548 units from 80,543 units in the corresponding previous period.

Within passenger vehicles, the utility vehicles segment saw sales rise to 18,620 units (16,515 units), recording 12 per cent increase.

“New launches like SX4, Logan and Spark continue to drive sales in the passenger cars despite the monsoon,” said Mr N.R. Narayanan, Group Business Head (Vehicle Loans), ICICI Bank.

“With good macro-economic conditions like growth in GDP, industrial production, agri business and regulations, commercial vehicles are also recording marginal growth.”

He added: “However, due to overloading of trucks, sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicles are decreasing in comparison to light commercial vehicles, which are recording double-digit growth.”

In the medium and the commercial vehicles segment, passenger carrier sales rose to 3,559 units (2,254 units), while the goods carrier segment saw sales dip to 14,182 units (16,890 units).

The two-wheeler scooter-scooterettee segment is once again dominated by Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India, with sales at 51,062 units (40,170 units), followed by TVS Motors with sales of 23,165 units (24,796 units).

Through its Pleasure scooter, Hero Honda Motors increased sales to 7,861 units (6,224 units), while Bajaj sold 2,920 units (1,347 units).

Related Stories:
Two-wheeler sales continue to skid
Two-wheelers, heavy vehicles sales dip in May