Even as the Indian automotive industry's robust growth of 14.22 percent in FY2018 (PVs: 7.89%; CVs: 19.94%; 3Ws: 24.19% and 2Ws: 14.80%) makes headlines, the three-wheeler segment saw record production and sales.

The industry saw a total of 635,698 units being sold, an increase of 24.19 percent (FY2017: 511,879 units), which includes 517,423 passenger carriers and 118,275 goods carriers. Contrary to some predictions that four-wheeled mini-trucks would eat into the growth of the three-wheeler market, the record numbers reported by 3W OEMs reiterates that these last-mile connectivity vehicles will continue to sell.

Three-wheeler market leader Bajaj Auto sold a total of 369,637 units, an increase of 8.7 percent, which includes 346,846 passenger carriers (+7.36%) and 22,791 goods carriers (+7.27%). The smart uptick helped the company further increase its market share from 49.45 percent in FY2017 to 58.15 percent in FY2018. Interestingly, the Pune-based OEM was the sole player in the segment whose market share has increased substantially.

TVS Motor Co, the Chennai-based manufacturer, was the only other company which managed to increase its market share. It sold a total of 16,429 units, up 33.82 percent, which helped it increase its market share to 2.58 percent (+0.18%) YoY. It sold 16,429 passenger carrier vehicles, and increased its market share from 3.05 percent to 3.18 percent.

The second largest player in the segment, Piaggio Vehicles sold 152,879 units, a marginal increase of 1.16 percent. Interestingly despite the marginal YoY growth, its market share came down to 24.05 percent in FY2018 from the existing 29.52 percent.