UVs and motorcycles drive growth in August as industry volumes rise 24% YoY

Carrying on from the strong momentum in July 2016, the Indian automobile industry notched record sales in August with total volumes crossing the 20-lakh unit mark and the motorcycle sales crossing the 10-lakh unit mark after a period of 10 months.

The passing of the GST Bill in the Parliament in July, followed by the lifting of the diesel ban in Delhi-NCR, coupled along with the better-than-expected monsoon season has fueled demand during the month, which has reflected in the stellar numbers.

According to the monthly sales data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers today, overall industry across vehicle segments grew by 23.74 percent with sales of 2,010,794 units in August 2016.

Among the major growth drivers was the Utility vehicle segment which reported a 47 percent rise in sales at 65,745 units. Passenger car sales grew at a healthy 9.5 percent YoY at 177,829 units, with vans also growing by 2.5 percent at 15,148 units. The lifting of the diesel ban in the large Delhi-NCR market and growing rural demand clearly aided the UV segment during the month.

Commenting on the August 2016 passenger vehicle sales numbers, Hormazd Sorabjee, editor, Autocar India, “Good economic indicators like a good monsoon, recovery in rural market demand, and the overall feel-good factor in the market have vastly improved car buyer sentiment. Plus, leading vehicle manufacturers have improved the game with some tempting new products. The lifting of the diesel ban has also given a lot of relief although overall the anti-diesel sentiment is still spooking diesel car buyers in the country.”

Motorcycle sales recover

In the two-wheeler segment, while scooter sales continued to accelerate with a 33 percent rise in volumes to 567,782 units, it was the recovery in motorcycle sales, which helped in expanding the overall segment. Motorcycle sales grew by 22 percent to touch 1,005,666 units in August, the second time since October 2015 when the industry had recorded sales of 1,065,856 units.

Strong rural demand on the back of an ample monsoon season has provided the much-needed fillip to the motorcycle industry and it is likely to soldier on ahead with the same intensity given the start of the festive season and the roll-out of the benefits of the Seventh Pay Commission.

While all other segments were in the black during August, the dip in M&HCVs proved to be a cause of concern and weighed on the overall industry growth.

M&HCV sales fell for a second consecutive month with a decline of nearly 11 percent in August at 20,537 units, thus capping the overall CV growth to a mere 1.5 percent. The LCV segment, on the other hand, managed to record double-digit growth with sales of 32,459 units.

Production up 11% in April-August 2016; HCV sales fall for second month in a row

On the sales front,overallindustry is seeing a strong revival on the back of increased demand. Passenger Vehicle sales grew by 10.74 percent in April-August 2016 to 1,215,596 units. While passenger cars sold a total of 831,267 units (+3%), UVs have proved to be the sterling performers with 40% year-on-year growth  to 306,638 units. Clearly, the flurry of new models and the lifting of the diesel ban last month is giving a fillip to the sector. Expect UV sales to further accelerate in the fiscal. Van numbers grew by 6.67% to 77,691 units.

The overall Commercial Vehicles segment registered a growth of 7.97 percent in April-August 2016. While M&HCVs posted 4.41 percent growth to 112,916 units, LCV sales saw 10.65 percent YoY growth to 158,889 units during April-August 2016.

Three-wheeler sales are up by 15.44 percent in April- August 2016 over the same period last year. Passenger and Goods Carrier sales grew by 15.12 percent and 16.98 percent respectively in April-August 2016 over April-August 2015.

The two-wheeler segment has notched 16.51 percent during growth in the five months of this fiscal. The scooter, motorcycle and mopeds segments grew by 26.07 percent, 11.79percentand 23.14 percent respectively in April-August 2016 over April-August 2015. While demand for scooters shows no signs of abating, manufacturers must be heaving a sigh of relief that rural demand has returned to the motorcycle market, which bodes well for the fiscal year.

Exports down 11% YoY

While the domestic sales have given much reason for cheer, the export scenario is not good. In the April-August 2016 period, overall automobile exports declined by (-) 11.16 percent. While Passenger Vehicles and Commercial Vehicles exports registered a growth of 13.47 percent (296,148 units) and 8.53 percent (16,526 units), three-wheeler and two-wheeler shipments from India saw a decline. While three-wheeler numbers fell by (-) 39.31 percent to 122,789 units, two-wheeler exports dropped 12.67 percent to 976,681 units in the April-August 2016 period.

Recommended:

- Complete India Sales Analysis: August 2016

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