Automakers, especially passenger vehicle manufacturers, may have reported a high double-digit growth, even one of their best wholesale numbers – factory despatches to dealerships – in October, but retail sales during the month saw a decline. For Pvs, the decline was to the tune of 11.6% compared to the same month last year, according to data sourced by ICICI Securities from the government’s vehicle registration portal Vahan. Retail sales of PVs had seen a jump of 10% in September on a year-on-year basis.
Explaining the dichotomy, a Federation of Automobile Dealers Association executive said that PV retail sales during October improved on a month-on-month basis but showed a decline on a yearly basis because last year Diwali fell in October whereas this year it’s in middle of November. He said that this year in October, the first 15 days was considered inauspicious for making new purchases.
As reported, Maruti Suzuki India and Hyundai Motor reported double-digit growth in their wholesales during October on year-on-year basis. While Maruti saw despatches of 1,66,825 units, a jump of 18%, Hyundai saw the same moving up 13.2% at 56,065 units.
The industry has estimated that total wholesales in October would be around 333,700 units, which is up 17% on a year-on-year basis. Last time such high despatches were seen in September 2017 when it stood at 310,047 units.
In the case of two-wheelers, Hero MotoCorp recorded its highest despatches in any single month at 7,91,137 in the domestic market, which was an increase of nearly 35% on a y-o-y basis. Total two-wheeler sales for Bajaj Auto in the domestic market was up 11% at 268,631 units, while for TVS Motor it was up 19% at 3,01,380 units. However, total retail sales for two-wheelers during October saw a decline of 28.9% to 10,11,343 units. In fact, retail sales of two-wheelers have been weak and saw a drop of 12.62% in September at 10,16,977 units.
