Vehicle sales in India hit an all-time high in January, but the growth rate moderated amid rising interest rates and vehicle cost.
According to data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) today, domestic vehicle sales grew 18.69 per cent to 1,322,979 units from 1,114,692 units in January 2010.
Domestic car sales rose 26.3 per cent to 184,332 units from 145,971 units a year earlier. Sugato Sen, senior director, Siam, said, “This is the highest-ever monthly car sales, beating the previous highest in October last year. It is mainly due to increased off-take as a result of the purchases postponed in December.” In October 2010, total car sales stood at 182,992 units.
He said the moderation in the growth rate that the industry had been witnessing was increasingly becoming visible. “The highest growth rate of overall sales this fiscal was seen in October at 45 per cent. From that, we are now coming down to just about 18 per cent. High interest rates, lack of liquidity in the market and increase in commodity prices will pose challenges for the industry going ahead.” A high growth rate of over 30 per cent was unsustainable, he said, adding what the industry was seeing now was the moderation and it was time to take note.
| SMOOTH RIDE | |||
| Category | Jan-10 | Jan-11 | % increase |
| Passenger vehicles | 1,87,671 | 2,33,994 | 24.68 |
| Two-wheelers | 8,34,343 | 9,80,752 | 17.55 |
| Commercial vehicles | 53,963 | 60,753 | 12.58 |
| Three-wheelers | 29-Dec | 47,480 | 22.64 |
| Source: Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers | |||
Last month, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), sold 100,422 units in the domestic market, 23.8 per cent more than January last year. Hyundai Motor India sold 30,306 units during the period, an increase of 2.4 per cent. Tata Motors’ sales grew 111.6 per cent to 34,688 units.
Two-wheeler sales in January jumped 17.55 per cent to 980,752 units from 834,343 units a year earlier. While motorcycle sales grew 15 per cent to 747,818 units, sales of scooters increased 29.6 per cent to 180,072 units.
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Hero Honda recorded 15.7 per cent growth at 4,23,434 units, while Bajaj Auto logged 7.1 per cent growth at 192,026 units. Three-wheeler sales were up by 22.64 per cent at 47,480 units, compared to 38,715 units in January 2010. The commercial vehicles segment grew by 12.6 per cent to 60,753 units from 53,963 units a year earlier. Sen said the slow growth of medium and heavy commercial vehicles was a cause of concern.
The segment grew by 6.6 per cent to 27,713 units, compared to 25,988 units in the same month last year. “This segment is usually an indicator of the economy, as it is very sensitive to interest rates and availability of finance,” he said. Sales of light commercial vehicles rose 18.1 per cent to 33,040 units from 27,975 units.