NEW DELHI: A shift in consumer demand towards utility vehicles (UVs) helped the overall domestic passenger vehicle (PV) market register growth in January. According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam), utility vehicle sales during the month grew 37.8 per cent to 85,850 units while the total domestic PV sales expanded 7.57 per cent to 285,477 units. Car sales, however, declined 1.25 per cent to 184,264 units.
UV sales in January come after the highest volume of sales clocked in July last year at 86,874 units, Siam director-general Vishnu Mathur said. He added that the car segment is going through flat sales with the entry-level segment not witnessing new launches while customer preference has been shifting towards crossovers and compact SUVs.
Two-wheeler and commercial vehicle (CV) sales witnessed high double-digit growth in January 2018. Total two-wheeler sales in January were up by 33.43 per cent to 16,84,066 units compared to 12,62,140 units in the year-ago month.
Within the two-wheeler industry, scooters continue to dominate the market registering a huge 48.29 per cent growth to 553,695 units. Motorcycle sales jumped 28.64 percent to 10,54,062 units. Mathur said this reflected the overall strong demand for motorcycles and scooters in rural as well as urban markets.
Sales of commercial vehicles grew 39.73 per cent to 85,660 units in January against 61,305 units in the same month a year ago, indicating growth in infrastructure activities and demand from e-commerce companies. Within the CV segment, medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales increased 18.77 per cent to 34,170.