As auto sales vroom, minicars and bikes hit reverse gear over pre-Covid period

Even as overall car sales cruise, entry-level cars, and bikes have seen a massive decline over the pre-Covid period due to rising input costs, the stress in rural markets, and fuel price surge.

Minicar sales fell 44 percent to approximately 77,000 units in the July-September 2022 quarter as against nearly 138,000 units during Q2 of FY2018-19, which was pre-Covid, as per the data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).  The entry-level bikes (up to 110cc) also saw a 35 percent drop from 23,05,000 units in Q2 FY2018-19 to 14,97,000 units in the second quarter of this financial year.

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Compact cars in the A1 segment (upto 4 metres) also went down by 9 percent from roughly 399,000 units in Q2 FY 2018-19 to about 362,000 units in the second quarter of this financial year. Mopeds also declined by nearly 51% from around 238,000 units in the second quarter of the pre-Covid FY to nearly 116,000 units during Q2 FY 202-23.

Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM said, "Offtake of entry-level two-wheelers and entry-level passenger vehicles (PVs) have been of concern especially as the rural demand has not picked up.”

September performance

Meanwhile, riding on the back of strong festive season demand, Passenger Vehicle (PV) wholesales in India increased 92 percent to 3,07,389 units last month as compared to 1,60,212 units in the year-ago period, the auto body said.

As per the latest SIAM data, overall two-wheeler sales rose 13 percent to 17,35,199 units last month as compared to 15,37,604 vehicles in September 2021. Motorcycle sales rose 18 percent to 11,14,667 units as against 9,48,161 units in September 2021.

“September month has been generally good for the industry, as the PV segment recorded the highest-ever sales in H1 and the commercial vehicle (CV) segment started showing trends of better market demand,” Menon said. He also maintained that despite some headwinds, robust demand for utility vehicles has been reported both on a monthly as well as quarterly basis.  He attributed these trends to moderation in commodity prices after the government's intervention.

Scooter sales were up 9 percent to 5,72,919 units, from 5,27,779 vehicles a year ago.

Quarterly show

In the September quarter, PV sales increased by 38 percent to 10,26,309 units as against 7,41,442 units in the same period of the last fiscal.

Similarly, total two-wheeler sales rose 13 percent to 46,73,931 units during the last quarter, as compared with 41,36,484 units in the September quarter of the last fiscal. Total CV sales rose 39 percent to 2,31,880 units as against 1,66,251 units in the year-ago period. Total sales across categories rose to 60,52,628 units as against 51,15,112 units in the September quarter of last year.

Commenting on the quarterly sales data, Vinod Aggarwal, President, of SIAM said, “There is an improvement seen across the segments in Q2 of 2022-23, compared to the previous year. We are hopeful that the industry will do well in October, which has two major festivals of Dussehra and Diwali." However, he also stated, "The recent increase in the prices of CNG fuel, higher repo rate, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict are concerns and could impact the market in the coming months.” (With PTI inputs)