Passenger Vehicle (PV) wholesales in India witnessed decline of 1 percent year-on-year at 3,56,752 units in September, as per the data shared by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). The auto industry also revealed that the total dispatches to dealers from companies stood at 3,61,717 units in September 2023. Incidentally, September was the third consecutive month which saw PV going downwards.
"Heavy rainfall in key states and almost the entire ‘Shradh’ period falling in the month of September, did impact the sales numbers of some of the segments, said Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) president Shailesh Chandra.
The Shradh period, also known as Pitru Paksha, is a 16-day period in the Hindu calendar when people honour their ancestors. During this period, people refrain from buying new clothes, property, or vehicles.
“High base effect of last year resulted in decline in the total PV sales in Q2FY25," added Chandra, who is also Managing Director, Tata Motors - Passenger Vehicle & Electric Mobility.
As per SIAM data, Passenger Vehicle (PV) wholesales declined 1.79 percent decline in the second quarter (July-September 2024) of FY25 at 10,55,137 units as against 10,74, 395 units in the same quarter last year. During the first six months of this fiscal, PV wholesales grew just 0.5 percent to 20,81,143 units against 20,70,060 units, as per SIAM data.
SIAM president noted that the overall Indian automobile industry remained strong in Q2 2024-25 with 8.9 percent growth compared to Q2 2023-24. Two and Three-Wheelers continued to post strong growth of 12.6 percent and 6.6 percent respectively.
During last month, total two-wheeler sales rose 16 percent year-on-year to 20,25,993 units last month, as compared to 17,49,794 units in the year-ago period. In the two-wheeler category, while scooter sales accounted for 6,72,414 units, motorcycle sales stood at 12,98,610 units in September 2024.
Total three-wheeler wholesales witnessed a 7 percent on-year increase to 79,683 units, as against 74,671 units in September 2023, as per SIAM.
EV subsidies
With the implementation of PM E-DRIVE policy, Chandra stated that the right moment to discontinue the subsidy for battery-driven models is when the penetration of EVs reach 20 percent in a particular segment of the automobile market.
According to him, the government subsidies should continue till a critical mass of customers of people have experienced this technology in a particular vehicle category so that they can spread positive word-of-mouth.
“It is anticipated that with growing scale and certain reductions in the cost structure of these technologies will come down to a level that subsidies can be removed,” affirmed Chandra.
Business Outlook
When queried about the PV sales outlook, Chandra stated said that the PV market is expected to post a growth of “sub 5 percent” during FY 2024-25.
“If you would have taken a triangulated view of what different manufacturers would have talked about (was) in terms of the growth for the passenger vehicle industry in FY 25 it would have been five to 8 percent. The expectation for H1 was slightly better. It was a slight surprise, especially (during) May and June, which did not play out as per our expectations,” said Chandra.
He went on to add, “Then we had a festive period in September but then they were offset to a great extent by the shradh period. All of them had great outlook that has come down to a flattish growth. Therefore, we expect sub-5 per cent growth instead of 5 percent in FY25,” reasoned Chandra. He maintained that while H2 has a big burden, citing Vahan data, he noted that the PV market is witnessing a 20-25 percent growth in vehicle registrations in the first 10 days.
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