Passenger vehicles sales in India grew 26.7 per cent in the fiscal year 2022-23, as chip shortages eased and demand for sport utility vehicles (SUVs) surged, auto industry body the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said on Thursday. According to news agency Reuters, wholesale passenger vehicle volumes for the year rose to 3.9 million units in the year ended March 31, from 3.1 million units a year ago, the SIAM, which records sales to dealers, said.
Total passenger vehicles sales volume saw growth of 4.5 per cent in March, SIAM data showed.
Despite inflation trending higher through the year, a mix of improved chip supply, higher incomes and pent-up demand, especially for SUVs supported sales at Indian automakers. Buying ahead of implementation of new fuel emission norms, and strong demand during the festival season also drove sales towards the end of the year.
Two-wheeler sales, an indicator of the financial health of India’s lower- to middle-income households, also rose 16.9 per cent.
Earlier this month, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), which publishes retail sales data, said growth is expected to taper to a low single-digit percentage in the current fiscal, mainly due to inflation, price hikes by carmakers and regulatory changes.
Annual retail inflation in India eased to 5.66 per cent in March from 6.44 per cent the previous month, government data showed on Wednesday.
Automakers such as Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and Hero MotoCorp Ltd have hiked prices to offset higher input costs due to inflation and new safety and emission norms.
Meanwhile, India’s automobile retail sales registered a double-digit year-on-year (YoY) growth in February driven by robust sales across segments, including passenger vehicles and two-wheelers, automobile dealers’ body Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) said in March.
According to the FADA release, total registrations across segments rose 16 per cent YoY to 17,75,424 units last month, as compared to 15,31,196 vehicles in February 2022. On the other hand, passenger vehicle retail sales rose 11 per cent to 2,87,182 units last month, against 2,58,736 units in the year-ago period.
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