Passenger Vehicles See Record Sales In 2017
Domestic passenger vehicle sales rose 5.22 percent in December.
Passenger car sales rose to a record high last year despite disruptions related to the Goods and Services Tax.
Automakers sold over 32.6 lakh passenger vehicles during the year, the highest ever, while domestic two-wheeler despatches stood at over 1.9 crore, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers said in a media statement today.
The full-year export numbers, however, were negatively impacted by the implementation of GST as Rs 2,000 crore worth of refunds, by way of input tax credit, had piled up, SIAM said. Under the new indirect tax regime, the total tax is paid upfront by automakers, while the refund is credited with a lag.
Passenger vehicle exports rose by 700-odd units to 7,38,894 units. The concern was more serious for automakers which exported more units than they sold in the country, said SIAM Deputy Director General Sugato Sen.
Highlights For December
December, was a blip for the passenger car category as volumes fell 0.2 percent, even as sales of two-wheelers and commercial vehicles rose 41.4 percent and 52.6 percent, respectively. Sales are typically low in the last month of the year as buyers prefer to wait to get their hands on vehicles bearing a manufacturing date of the next year, SIAM said.
- Motorcycle sales rose 40.31 percent to 7,88,156 units as against 5,61,710 units a year earlier. Total two-wheeler sales in December rose 41.45 percent to 12,87,592 units compared to 910,276 units in the year-ago month.
- Sales of commercial vehicles rose 52.62 percent to 82,362 units in December, SIAM said.
- Vehicle sales across categories registered an increase of 36.39 percent to 16,66,646 units from 12,21,969 units in December 2016, it added.