The automotive wholesales continue to see a positive uptick across segments. In fact, according to a report by BNP Paribas India states that the trends seen in January in the domestic auto market continued in February as demand across segments grew robust on a YoY basis, although exports recovered a bit on a MoM basis.
It further states that the sales volume continued to rise sharply for tractors, three-wheelers, and M&HCV and also remained strong for the passenger vehicle segment. The two-wheeler segment volume growth was strong on a YoY basis albeit a very weak base. On the other hand, the LCV segment remained the weakest.
The report estimates Toyota Kirloskar Motor in the PV segment and TVS Motor Company in the two-wheeler segment to have gained the most, while Hero MotoCorp in the two-wheeler segment saw the biggest drop.
For the CV segment, the M&HCV segment continued to outperform the LCV segment, with Ashok Leyland consistently gaining the highest volume market share mostly from Tata Motors on a YoY basis.
The M&HCV continued to see benefits from strong replacement demand and a sharp increase in freight rates. While PV OEMs have a solid order book, strong consumer sentiment and economic activity are key drivers for incremental demand. The two-wheeler segment is also benefiting on the back of a weak base, although the banking group expects it to start normalising in the coming months.
It states that rural wage growth stayed strong while vehicle-loan growth spiked on a low base.
