Passenger Vehicles Sales Rise 4% in April, Says SIAM
Passenger vehicle sales, a barometer of the economy, from automakers to their dealerships in the country increased 4 per cent year-on-year to 3,48,847 units in April, led by demand for utility vehicles
Pune: Passenger vehicle sales, a barometer of the economy, from automakers to their dealerships in the country increased 4 per cent year-on-year to 3,48,847 units in April, led by demand for utility vehicles, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers or SIAM said on Thursday.
Passenger vehicle dispatches stood at 3,35,629 units in April last year.
“The passenger vehicles segment posted its highest-ever sales in April at 3.49 lakh units," SIAM Director General Rajesh Menon said.
However, two-wheeler sales dropped 17 per cent to 1.45 million units in April.
Similarly, three-wheeler sales also declined 0.7 per cent to 49,441 units after posting good numbers in 2024-25.
“Two-wheeler sales declined due to the high base effect of April 2024 and are expected to pick up over months,” Menon noted.
He said the auto industry smoothly transitioned to the new regulatory regime of On-Board Diagnostics II (OBD II) for two- and three-wheelers from April 2025 onwards, in addition to rolling out E-20 compliant gasoline vehicles across the country.
Car sales dropped by 5.4 per cent in April and that of UVs grew 12.1 per cent. The break-up does not include Tata Motors’ sales.
JSW, Kia and Toyota Kirloskar Motors reported strong domestic PV sales, while Hyundai Motor India, Maruti Suzuki India and Nissan registered did so in exports. PV exports increased by 20 per cent in April amid geopolitical tensions.
Tarun Garg, CEO at HMIL, said earlier in May that the domestic automobile market "continues to face headwinds on account of various macroeconomic factors" and his company is focusing on exports.
Sales by Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp last month fell 13 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively. Hero paused production at four facilities from April 17-19 to facilitate supply-chain alignment and make scheduled maintenance. “Normalization” is expected in May, it has said.
Last month, The Federation of Automobile Dealers Association said that while two-wheeler dealers expect a boost from festive buying and demand during the wedding season, it was wary of rising OBD II costs, weak rural liquidity, and competition from electric vehicles.
Among three-wheelers, electric rickshaw sales fell by 36.5 per cent in April and passenger carriers grew by 2.2 per cent.
