Passenger car sales marginally down in December

Sales of domestic passenger cars marginally declined in December, industry data showed on Thursday.

As per the data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), 158,326 passenger cars were sold in December, down from 158,617 units off-take during the corresponding month of 2016.

However, the off-take of other sub-segments of passenger vehicle category such as utility vehicles edged higher by 15.03 per cent during the month to 67,073 units while sales of vans rose by 31.34 per cent to 14,313 units.

Consequently, the overall domestic passenger vehicle sales inched up by 5.22 per cent in December to 239,712 units from 227,823 units sold during the corresponding period in 2016.

 

Similarly, the industry data revealed that sales of overall commercial vehicles zoomed by 52.62 per cent to 82,362 units in December. The segment is a key indicator of economic activity.

Another major segment -- three-wheelers -- sales accelerated by 90.54 per cent to 56,980 units during the month.

In addition, overall sales of two-wheelers, which include scooters, motorcycles and mopeds, climbed by 41.45 per cent to 1,287,592 units.

The data disclosed that the Indian automobile sector reported an increase of 36.39 per cent during December 2017 -- with total sales at 1,666,646 units across segments and categories.

Moreover, the overall exports across categories edged higher by 21.28 per cent to 365,396 units last month.

According to Sridhar V, Partner, Grant Thornton India LLP, the low base of December 2016 "can also be a cause for reflecting such a high growth".

"... One can't take away the fact that the sector has done well across segments (except passenger cars) and is on a growth path, which is expected to continue the next quarter and end up the financial year 2017-18 with a double digit growth," he said.

"Good monsoon, price discounts, new models are one among the many reasons for the appreciable performance by the sector."

--IANS

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