Auto sales zoom in Oct

Cross 1-million mark on surge in commercial vehicle sales.

A big surge in the sales of passenger cars and medium and heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCVs) raised domestic vehicle sales in October to 1,000,760 units — 15.62 per cent higher than the 865,566 units sold in the same month last year.

According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam), this was a continuation of the double-digit sales growth posted by the industry since April this year. The only exception was the month of September, when overall sales growth slowed to 7.67 per cent.

October’s healthy sales growth for the overall automobile industry came on the back of record double-digit growth of 33 per cent for passenger cars and 11 per cent in the sales of two-wheelers.

IN TOP GEAR
Segment	Oct ’08	Oct ‘09	% change
Two-wheelers	678,245	750,229	10.61
Three-wheelers	33,026	39,926	20.89
Passenger vehicles	126,276	168,043	33.08
Commercial vehicles	28,019	42,562	51.9
Total	865,566	1,000,760	15.62
Source: Siam

A positive sales growth notched up by the M&HCV segment (large trucks in the goods carrier segment) for the third continuous month also helped the industry. This segment, which posted a positive growth of 1 and 3 per cent in August and September respectively this year, grew by a whopping 64.14 per cent in October after the industry sold a record 16,048 vehicles last month.

Total sales of commercial vehicles, including light CVs (LCVs) in the goods and passenger segment, grew 52 per cent to 42,562 units last month. The increase in infrastructure spending by the government also helped sales. Siam Senior Director Sugato Sen said the growth would be maintained in the coming months, especially when the new emission norms are enforced in April 2010.

Vehicle sales for October were also aided by the sales of large buses, whose year-on-year sales since May this year had been declining. October sales of large buses grew 64 per cent to 3,294 units. Industry analysts put down the higher bus sales — a record 3,294 units in October — to the JNNURM scheme introduced by the government with the aim of providing better public transportation in cities. Of the 15,000 buses allocated under the scheme, orders have been placed for 12,000, with 1,500 buses delivered so far.

“The overall sales for the automobile industry, apart from other factors, has come primarily from good sentiments in the domestic market and overall economic growth,” research agency IDFC-SSKI’s Vice-President S Ramnath said.

Domestic sales of cars and utility vehicles for October grew 33 per cent, after the industry sold 168,043 units — the highest sales figure posted since this April. This is also a continuation of the double digit-growth posted by car manufacturers since July.

“The growth for October comes primarily on the back of festival demand,” Maruti Suzuki Chief General Manager (Marketing) Shashank Srivastava said.

October sales of two-wheelers grew by 10.6 per cent to 750,229 units. According to industry executives, the October growth looked subdued, since, at least in two-wheelers, last year constituted a high base.

Sales of three-wheelers for October grew 21 per cent to 39,925 units of both goods and passenger three-wheelers.

Going forward, industry executives said growth could slow down on two counts. “To make recovery sustainable, the fiscal stimulus has to be continued beyond this financial year,” Sen said.

Also, vehicles sales could get impacted if the shortage of tyres is not addressed. “There is an acute shortage of tyres in the country. Vehicle OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are forced to cut back on production,” another executive said.