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In an indication of a turnaround in the economy, sales of commercial vehicles (CVs) increased 8.59 per cent in September, after 16 months of decline.
"CV sales have increased after 16 months, as fleet owners have started buying trucks, anticipating improved economic activity. Sectors such as mining and infrastructure are picking up, boosting CV sales," said Sugato Sen, deputy director-general, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam).
Sales of passenger cars, however, declined 1.03 per cent to 154,882 units, after four months of growth. "We think people postponed their buys from September to October," said Vishnu Mathur, director-general of Siam, adding with major festivals lined up in October, car sales were expected to rise this month.
In the domestic market, car sales had increased between May and August this year, after a protracted slowdown. Now, consumer sentiment had improved significantly, Mathur said.
In September, sales of passenger vehicles rose 3.26 per cent to 223,568 units. While sales of market leader Maruti Suzuki India increased 9.84 per cent to 99,290 units, those of Hyundai rose 14.51 per cent to 35,041 units. Honda Cars India saw growth of 45.02 per cent in domestic sales, at 15,015 units.
Motorcycle sales increased 19.34 per cent to 1,056,509 units in September from 885,309 units a year earlier. According to Siam, scooter sales stood at 438,470, compared with 317,750 units in September 2013, an increase of 37.99 per cent. Overall, two-wheeler sales rose 23.81 per cent to 1,567,351 units in September.
At 1,904,007 units, total sales of vehicles, across categories, registered an increase of 20.44 per cent, against 1,580,933 units in September 2013.
