Data released by SIAM on Tuesday showed that domestic passenger vehicle sales stood at 2,87,186 units in the last month, down 2.46% from 2,94,416 units in August 2017
Domestic passenger vehicle sales fell for a second consecutive month in August due to a high base effect from goods and services tax (GST) implementation last year and partial impact of floods in Kerala.
Data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) on Tuesday showed that domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales stood at 2,87,186 units in the last month, down 2.46% from 2,94,416 units in August 2017.
Car sales fell 1.03% to 1,96,847 units last month as against 1,98,892 units in the year-ago period.
"There is an impact of high base effect, as sales last year from July to September were high after GST implementation," SIAM director general Vishnu Mathur said. Besides, there is also some impact of floods, especially in Kerala which is a big automotive market, he added.
In July this year, passenger vehicle sales had dropped 2.71% to 2,90,960 units, the first fall in nine months, owing to a high base last year when sales surged due to GST rollout. Car sales had also slipped marginally to 1,91,979 units as compared to 1,92,845 in the year-ago month. Prior to July, PV sales saw the last drop in October 2017.
Though vehicle sales across categories rose 3.43% in August at 23,81,931 units from 23,02,902 units a year ago, the pace of growth slowed down from the previous month when the sales had increased 7.97% to 22,44,875 units.
Market leader Maruti Suzuki India's (MSI) PV sales fell for second month in a row. The company sold 1,45,895 units in August, a 3.55% drop from a year ago. In July, MSI had posted a marginal decline at 1,52,427 units.
Rival Hyundai Motor India also saw a 2.76% drop in August at 45,801 units. It had posted a 1.1% growth in July at 43,481 units.
Tata Motors, however, posted a 24.98% jump in its PV sales in August at 20,323 units.
Total two-wheeler sales rose 2.91% to 19,46,811 units. Motorcycle sales grew 6.18% to 12,06,512 units in August but scooter sales fell marginally to 6,69,416 units as against 6,73,444 units a year ago.
"Two-wheeler sales were partially affected by the restriction imposed in West Bengal on new purchases without driving licence," Mathur said.
In motorcycles, market leader Hero MotoCorp registered a growth of 1.29% 5,91,401 units. Rival Bajaj Auto saw its sales jump 27.25% to 2,18,437 units.
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) posted a 4.9% increase in bike sales at 2,01,348 units.
In scooters, leader HMSI saw sales fall 4.66% to 3,75,901 units. TVS Motor Co, however, posted a 9.8% rise at 1,20,198 units. Hero MotoCorp's scooter sales were at 71,639 units, down 7.73%.
Despite revision in axle load norms, commercial vehicles (CVs) continued their strong show with sales jumping 29.56% to 84,668 units in August. In July, CV sales had grown 29.65% to 76,497 units. "Considering how this segment has grown above expectations, we are looking at having a re-look at our forecast for an upward revision," Sen said.
SIAM had earlier projected that the CV segment could grow 10-12% this fiscal. However, in the April-August period, the segment grew 41.67% to 3,91,260 units.
"The impact of change in axle load norms has not been felt so far primarily because of a) healthy underlying demand, especially from construction sector and b) delays in implementation of axle load norms," said Shamsher Dewan, vice president & sector head - corporate ratings, Icra, in a note.
As a result, the M&HCV (truck) segment continued to witness strong traction. The growth momentum continued in the LCV (truck) segment too, which witnessed a growth of 32% in unit sales in August. Strong consumption-driven demand, investments in express cargo segment and rural recovery are driving demand for LCVs besides improved financing environment, he added.
Auto stocks fell up to 4.2% on Tuesday. Shares of Apollo Tyres tumbled 4.17%, Hero MotoCorp 3.06%, Tata Motors 3.03%, TVS Motor Company 2.64%, Ashok Leyland 1.73%, Maruti Suzuki India 1.56% and Bajaj Auto 1.24% on BSE.
Led by losses in these stocks, the BSE auto index fell 1.52% to end at 23,903.70.
IT’S A BUSY ROAD
2,87,186
Domestic passenger vehicle sales in August this year
19,46,811
Two-wheeler sales
1,96,847
Car sales
(With inputs from PTI)
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