Automobile sales continue to move upwards, jump 16.4% to 6.4 mn units in Q1: SIAM

UV sales climbed 18 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 645,000 units from 547,194 units in the first quarter of the previous financial year (Image Credit: Pixabay)

Sales of Passenger Vehicles (PVs), Commercial  Vehicles (CVs), two-and three-wheelers went up in the domestic market during the first quarter (Q1) of this financial year, riding on product launches, economic growth, buoyancy in the market, and a pickup in rural markets.

According to the data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the overall auto wholesales in the domestic market went up by 16.4 percent in Q1 FY25 to 64,01,006 units from 54,98,602 units in the same period last year.

According to Vinod Aggarwal, President, SIAM, “While PVs and CVs have witnessed moderate growth, the two and three-wheelers have posted very handsome growth in double digits.”

Total automobile sales include 10,26,000 units of PVs, up by three percent from 9,96,565 units in Q1 FY24, as per the data shared by auto industry body.

Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM noted that the sales of PVs in April-June period of FY 2024-25 has been the highest ever of Q1 and also crossed 1 million units in Q1 for the first time. In his view, the growth in PVs was largely driven by the robust sales of utility vehicles (UVs), which accounted for nearly 63 percent of the total volumes.

UV sales climbed 18 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 645,000 units from 547,194 units in the first quarter of the previous financial year. While passenger car sales went down by 17.5 percent at 341,293 units, the volumes rose by 9.2 per cent at 38,919 units, as per SIAM.

SIAM also revealed that the two-wheeler segment also witnessed substantial growth, with sales rising by 20.4 percent to 49,85,631 units. The growth was largely led by scooters, which surged by 28.2 percent to 16,64,994 units. Motorcycles sales went up by 16.8 percent to 31,97,922 units during Q1 FY 2024-25.

“Within two-wheelers, scooters have posted even higher growth based on some green shoots of recovery in entry level two-wheelers. With positive outlook on monsoon and coming festive season, the automotive sector is poised to perform better in the balance part of the year,” added Aggarwal.

The three-wheeler segment saw a 14.2 percent growth, reaching 165,081 units, the highest ever for Q1, driven by both passenger carriers and goods carriers.

CV segment also showed positive momentum with a 3.5 percent increase in sales, totalling 224,209 units as against 2,16,550 units in the year-ago period. The growth was more prominent in the medium and heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCVs) segment, which saw a 9.7 percent rise at 85,421 units. However, the light commercial vehicles (LCVs) segment saw a marginal increase of 0.1 percent at 138,788 units.

During the month of June, PV wholesale rose 3 percent year-on-year to 3,37,757 units as against 3,27,788 units in the same month last year, as per SIAM data. The total two-wheeler wholesales rose 21 per cent to 16,14,154 units last month, as compared with 13,30,826 units in June 2023.

“With positive outlook on monsoon and coming festive season, the Automotive Sector is poised to perform better in the balance part of the year,” Aggarwal further added.