Passenger vehicle sales drop by over 7.6 pc in February 2020 due to subdued demand: SIAM
The total vehicle production (passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, three-wheelers, two-wheelers, and quadricycles) between April-February 2020, dropped by over 13 percent as compared to the same period last year.
Automobile sales in India declined further in February as manufacturers reduced production as they start preparing their facilities to shift from BS-IV to BS-VI emission norms.
Passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market fell by 7.6 percent to 251,516 units this month as compared to 272,243 units in February 2019. Two-wheeler sales in February 2020 took a sharp dip of 19.82 percent with volumes standing at 1,294,791 units, compared to 1,614,941 units in the same month last year.
Commercial vehicle sales too declined with 58,670 units sold, witnessing a drop of 32.90 percent. Also, the three-wheeler sales dropped by over 31 percent to 41,300 units last month.
Speaking about the drop in volumes, Rajan Wadhera, President of SIAM, said, “The decline in wholesale dispatches is primarily due to economic slowdown and lower production of BS-IV vehicles. Some upside on the registration numbers of VAHAN can be attributed to last-minute purchase by customers trying to advance purchase of BS-IV vehicles.”
He also highlighted the disruption caused by the coronavirus-related scare.
“Supply chain disruptions from China is also a concern, which may impact the production plans for companies going forward. The auto industry is grateful to the government for issuing a notification of Force Majeure for coronavirus, and 24x7 clearance of shipments at all customs formations,” added Wadhera.
However, utility vehicle sales remain to be the only ray of hope in a declining market with a rise of 0.10 percent. Volumes for UVs in February 2020 stood at 83,351 as compared to 93,269 units sold in February 2019.
In the financial year 2019-20 (till February 2020), the industry produced a total of 2,04,98,128 vehicles including passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, three-wheelers, two-wheelers, and quadricycles as against 24,358,082 in the same months last fiscal.
(Edited by Suman Singh)