Riding high on a 30% growth on the export front, the three-wheeler industry has reported a 15.09% growth in the first nine months of the current fiscal (April-December 2017) period to 718,043 units, compared with 623,885 units sold in the same nine-month period of the previous fiscal. Domestic sales during the said nine-month period saw a growth of 7.89% to 438,227 units against 406,178 units in the same period last fiscal. Exports, on the other hand, jumped sharply to witness a 30.27% growth to end at 282,901 units, against 217,166 units in the same period last fiscal, showed SIAM data. With regard to total sales, the passenger segment saw 16% growth to 629,232 units (543,123 units) while goods segment witnessed a growth of 10% to 88,811 units, against 80,762 units sold in the same period last fiscal. Passenger three-wheeler exports saw 30% growth to 279,391 units against 215,048 units. The goods segment, on a small base, grew 66% to 3,510 units in the nine-month period of the current fiscal compared with 2,118 units in the same nine-month period last fiscal.
Bajaj Auto continued to lead the industry with a growth of 23% to end the nine-month period at 443,732 units, with exports seeing a jump of 29.14% to 199,832 units; domestic sales saw a growth of 22% to 247,408 units. TVS Motor saw total sales of 68,600 units, a growth of 32.30%, majorly driven by its export, which saw 33% growth to 58,452 units, while its domestic sales were at 10,800 units in the April-December period, a growth of 9%. Though Piaggio Vehicles happened to be the second-largest three-wheeler maker,its total sales degrew 2.5% in the April-December period to 129,905, due to poor domestic sales. Exports grew 29% to 18,315 units. The other major player, Mahindra & Mahindra, saw a flat growth at 41,527 units during the nine-month period, according to the SIAM data.
In the goods segment, Piaggio was leading with 43,532 units, followed by Bajaj Auto (15,616 units) and Mahindra & Mahindra with 14,633 units. According to industry sources, despite an extended demonetisation impact coupled with GST implementation, the passenger segment could post a decent growth in domestic market owing to demand pick-up in rural markets and an overall improvement in sentiment and better monsoon (goods sector. Exports grew sharply primarily due to improved economic conditions in the global markets, the sources pointed out.