Two-wheelers help spare the blushes for India vehicle sales during April-September 2013

Mumbai, October 8, 2013: Two-wheelers proved to be the knight in shining armour for Indian OEMs, driving overall domestic sales during April-September 2013 and preventing a complete downslide. The industry grew marginally by 1.18 percent over the same period last year.

The two-wheeler sector offered the much-needed reprieve in an otherwise downcast sky, growing 3.51 percent with scooter sales growing at 16.59 percent and motorcycles at a flat 0.88 percent. Moped sales, however, declined by 10.78 percent.

Separately for September 2013, the two-wheeler segment grew higher at 18.39 percent. Scooters led the way with a growth of 24.94 percent and motorcycles, 17.44 percent. Mopeds had a small growth of 2.92 percent. Passenger cars grew by 0.73 percent, according to the latest SIAM data.

During April-September 2013, passenger vehicles continued their downtrend, dropping by 5.15 percent during this period over the same period last year. Within this segment, vans faced the largest drop of 9.80 percent while passenger cars declined by 4.67 percent and utility vehicles by 4.79 percent. In terms of overall sales numbers, a total of 8,783,950 units were sold in the first six months, down 1.18 percent from the 8,681,544 units sold in April-September 2012. Among the passenger car models that have contributed to these numbers are the Alto, Dzire, Swift and Wagon R from Maruti’s stable as also the Honda Amaze (that has topped 30,000 units) and the Renault Duster that has sold 25,060 units.

Commercial vehicles registered a de-growth of 15.32 percent with medium and heavy CVs the biggest defaulter with a de-growth of 25.22 percent while LCVs also dipped by 9.61 percent during this period.

Three-wheeler sales were down by 4.38 percent with passenger carriers and goods carriers declining by 4.04 percent and 5.91 percent respectively.



Exports get a fillip

In terms of exports, two-wheelers could not continue their winning run, declining by 0.35 percent during April-September 2013. CVs fell 19.08 percent but overall automobile exports grew by 4.54 percent. Passenger vehicle and three-wheeler exports, however, grew at 13.77 percent and 29.89 percent respectively during April-September 2013 compared to the same period last year.

In September, though, a surprise on the export front was the smart growth in motorcycle and moped sales at 17.65 percent and 252 percent respectively. Three-wheeler passenger carrier exports notched a 18.42 percent increase while passenger cars and UVs were up by 18 percent and 187.16 percent respectively. In CVs, both passenger carriers and goods carriers posted a growth of 2.52 percent and 58.74 percent respectively. Overall, Indian OEMs posted a 17.03 percent increases in exports in September 2012, shipping 284,776 units compared to 243,341 units a year ago. Clearly, the dip in the rupee’s value versus the dollar has played a role here. The rise in exports will act as a hedge against slowing sales in companies’ domestic business.

SHOBHA MATHUR