SUV volumes hit a historic high of more than 2 lakh units in October

With a festive boost and easing of production constraints, SUVs posted record-high monthly volumes of more than two lakh units in October.

• Also read: Festivities along with harvest season to boost two-wheeler sales: FADA

In October 2023, total sales of SUVs (including all segments) stood at about 1.98 lakh units when compared with 1.41 lakh units in October 2022, an increase of 40 per cent.

Additionally, if Tata Motors’ October SUV volumes are added in the data, the total SUV volumes will reach over 2.3 lakh units for October 2023.

With robust sales momentum, SUVs accounted for 60 per cent of the total PV industry volumes last month.

Meanwhile, car sales reported a decline of eight per cent at 1.3 lakh units in October 2023 when compared with 1.41 lakh units in October 2022.

• Also read: Mini car segment nosedives with sales down 41%

The chip shortage faced by Indian passenger vehicle makers is easing, with current availability at 85-90 per cent of the total requirement, according to Senior Director of CRISIL Ratings, Anuj Sethi, who estimates that the PV segment’s production loss on account of the chip shortage was reported to reduce to about 2 lakh units as of September 2023 from about 3 lakh units in FY23.

While PV makers have been ramping up production, new orders to be served remained robust at about 7 lakh units as of September 2023 amid considerable easing of chip availability.

“Demand for SUVs continues to remain strong with a positive response for the new launches. New bookings are still coming in, and as a result, order intake has been growing. While the waiting period has started coming off as a whole, it is still higher for XUV700/Scorprio- N, which stands at 6-8 months. The refreshed Nexon model has been received well with bookings for both automatic and manual variants,” auto analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services said in a recent document.

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