Festive demand drives November numbers, strong double-digit gains for cars and SUVs, two- and three-wheelers

With the first half of November being the concluding part of the 42-festive season, India Auto Inc has benefited from robust demand in the passenger vehicle, two- and three-wheeler segments. As per the OEM wholesale numbers for last month released by apex industry body SIAM, cumulative sales of these three vehicle categories were a little over 2 million units, up a smart 26% over the 1.6 million units in November 2023.

Commenting on the sales data of November 2023, Vinod Aggarwal, President, SIAM said: “All segments of the automobile industry witnessed robust growth during the festival season which ended in the first part of November. Passenger vehicle sales grew moderately and two- and three-wheelers posted high double-digit growth. Commercial vehicle sales matched last year’s levels. Supported by strong economic growth, industry is optimistic in ending the year 2023 on a high note and expects the trend to continue into 2024.”

The passenger vehicle industry maintained its strong showing with 334,130 units dispatched by OEMs, up 4% on a high year-ago base of 322,268 units in November 2022. This is the best showing yet for the month of November by the PV sector. The sterling double-digit growth of utility vehicle sub-segment continues to buffer the decline in demand for passenger cars.

The UV segment, which comprises SUVs and MPVs, saw dispatches of an estimated 209,108 units in November 2023, up 23% YoY (November 2022: 170,338) and accounted for a massive 62% share of the overall PV sales of 334,130 units. With the key players – Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Hyundai Motor India and Toyota Kirloskar Motor – recording strong gains last month, it was expected that November 2023 would be a big-number month.

Democratised double-digit growth for two- and three-wheelers

At a total of 16,23,399 units sold, the two-wheeler industry clocked strong 31% YoY growth (November 2022: 12,36,282 units). And the YoY increase is democratised as double-digit fains for scooters, motorcycles and also mopeds.

November 2023 with 509,119 units is the fourth consecutive month that scooter sales have surpassed the half-a-million mark (see data table below). And cumulative sales for the April-November 2023 period at 39,64,293 units are up 7% year on year (April-November 2022: 36,90,501 units).

Scooter sales accounted for a 31.36% share of the overall two-wheeler market (16,123,399 units) and logged solid 23% YoY growth. Motorcycles (10,70,798 units), where demand for commuter bikes is returning from rural India, had a 66% share while mopeds (43,482 units) had a 2.67% share.

Like two-wheelers, the three-wheeler market recorded identical 31% YoY growth at 59,738 units. Electric three-wheelers, at 2,855 units, contributed to 5% of the segment’s sales. This, according to Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM, is just below the segment’s peak sales of 60,131 units in November 2017.

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