Total Vehicle Sales Jump 10% In September On Festive Demand

Vehicle sales rose 10 percent on a yearly basis in September on festive demand and restocking at the dealer level after the initial Goods and Services Tax-related disruption.

Total vehicle sales rose to 24.90 lakh units last month, data by auto industry body, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed.

Here are the key highlights:

• Sales of passenger vehicles rose nearly 7 percent to 2,07,656 units year-on-year.
• Car sales went up 6.86 percent to 2,08,656 units on a year-on-year basis.
• Passenger vehicle sales grew 11.32 percent to 3,09,955 units from the same month last year.
• Sales of commercial vehicles rose by 25.27 percent to 77,195 units.
• Total two-wheeler sales jumped 9.05 percent to 20,41,024 units.
• Motorcycle sales rose 6.98 percent to 12,69,612 units
• Exports jumped 12.73 percent to 3,54,049 units sales from a year-ago period.

SIAM said growth was visible and palpable across most segments, but stopped short of revising its forecasts for the ongoing financial year. The automobile lobby group had forecast a growth at 8-10 percent year-on-year for passenger vehicles. A near-normal monsoon, lower borrowing costs, and softer inflation will aid consumption growth for the remainder of the financial year, SIAM added.

Frequent changes in policy, high tax rates on some vehicle categories and road tax not being subsumed under GST were the key headwinds for the sector, SIAM Deputy General Sugato Sen said.