NEW DELHI: Continuing the strong sales momentum, India’s auto industry grew by a robust 12 per cent in the second fiscal of the current financial year. As per data released by SIAM, total domestic auto sales rose 12.13 per cent to 2,282,618 units from 2,035,610 units in the year-ago period.
The growth momentum is, however, lower than the growth recorded in the month of April when total monthly sales by 17.44 per cent to 2,379,718. Growth in the month of May mainly came from high demand in passenger vehicle (PV) and commercial vehicle segment, and a lower base in the same month last year.
As per the SIAM data, PV sales last month rose to 3,01,238 units, up 19.65 per cent from 2,51,764 units in May 2017. Car sales, which had slowed down in the recent month, grew by 19.64 per cent to 1,99,479 units as against 1,66,732 units in the same month last year, while utility vehicle (UV) sales rose 17.53 per cent to 82,086 units.“The industry is well on track as far as sales growth is concerned… There were many factors, including new product launches, which helped create sales momentum in the PV segment,” SIAM Director General Vishnu Mathur said. New launches from the house of Honda and Toyota have received good response from consumers, he added.
In May, market leader Maruti Suzuki India reported a growth of 23.99 per cent in its domestic PV sales at 1,61,497 units, while a second largest player, Hyundai Motor India saw a growth of 7.14 per cent at 45,008 units. The CV segment, driven by robust growth in infrastructure activities, grew by a whopping 43.06 per cent to 76,478 units in May and it is likely that it will continue the growth momentum in the coming months, SIAM said.
Two-wheeler sales in May rose 9.19 per cent to 18,50,093 units compared to 16,94,323 units in the year-ago month. Scooter, responsible for pushing the two-wheeler market, saw its sales coming down for the first time in 15 months. Scooter sales saw a dip of 1.4 per cent to 5,55,467 units, as compared with 5,63,326 units in May last year. On the other hand, motorcycle sales last month rose 15.16 per cent to 12,21,559 units as against 10,60,744 units a year earlier.