The December sales have grown slightly, 4 percent to 1,319,074 vehicles from 1,263,557 units sold last December. As per the data shared by SIAM, this is one of the worst sales tally in the 9 months of FY2023. Even for the quarter, compared to 1,923,032 vehicles sold in October and 1,558,145 units sold in November, the December numbers are down nearly thirty percent on a month-on-month basis. Higher interest rates, price hikes are considered to be the key factor contributing to the lower sales.
Passenger vehicle sales however continue to be the bright spot. It came in at 235,309 units, up 7 percent from 219,421 cars sold last November. However, month-on-month comparsion shows that the December PV sales have slipped considerably from the 276,231 units sold in November and the 291,113 units sold in October, which was also a festive month. UVs continue to be amongst the top winners in this space with the 9MFY2023 sales for select UV models almost doubling on a year-on-year basis. Entry-level cars and hatchbacks continue to see significant dip in their sales.
The downturn in two-wheeler sales continue. The December sales came in flat at 1,045,052 vehicles compared to 1,015,942 two-wheelers sold in last December. This is significantly lower than 1,236,190 two-wheelers sold in November and 1,577,694 units sold in October.
The overall vehicle exports have also seen signifcant dip in the 9MFY2023 at 38,08,040 units compared to 42,20,360 vehicles exported in teh same period in FY2022.
Commenting on sales data, Vinod Aggarwal, President, SIAM said, “Compared to the last calendar year, growth in Commercial Vehicles have been noteworthy, L5 category of three-wheelers have recovered well although from a low base of the previous year, while the two-wheelers have grown at a much slower pace in this calendar year, compared to the other categories of vehicles.”
Commenting on Q3 sales data, Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM added, “Festive season has helped in returning good sales numbers for all the segments. However, weakness in rural demand continues, as high food inflation and increased financing cost is impacting the rural market.”