The overall automobile exports continue to remain sluggish, despite an uptick in the domestic demand, according to the latest data by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). The exports in the two-wheeler, three-wheeler and commercial vehicle segments declined by 6.4%, 28.8% and 23.9%, respectively, during the period under review. In contrast to this, the exports in the passenger vehicle segment surged by 15% year-on-year (YoY) to 1,84,598 units in the September quarter. Overall automobile exports declined by 6.02% YoY during the period under review. "Because of the geo-political situation, there are foreign exchange concerns in other countries, which has led to sluggish demand in exports. This is the fundamental reason," says Vinod Aggarwal, president, SIAM.

The domestic automobile wholesales surged by 1.046% to 61,16,091 units in the September quarter as against 60,52,739 units in the corresponding period of the previous year led by an uptick in demand in the passenger vehicle, commercial vehicle and three-wheeler segment.

The wholesales in the domestic passenger vehicle segment grew by 4.7% year-on-year (YoY) to 10,74,189 units in the September quarter this year as against 10,26,309 units in the same period last year. This is the highest-ever passenger vehicle sales in Q2, says SIAM.

Amongst the passenger vehicle segment, the wholesales of utility vehicles jumped to a whopping 23.4% YoY to 6,39,499 units during the period under review as against 5,17,898 units in the same period last year. The wholesales of passenger cars, however, declined by 5.13% YoY to 3,96,499 units as against 4,68,513 units in the September quarter last year.

Amongst passenger vehicles, the market share of electric vehicles stood at 1.5% with 5,000 units being sold during the period under review, says Aggarwal.

"For the remaining part of FY24, the outlook of electric vehicles remains positive," he adds.

The three-wheeler segment also witnessed a surge in sales by 62.2% year-on-year (YoY) to 1,95,215 units during the period under review as against 1,20,319 units in the same period last year. According to Aggarwal, an uptick in the three-wheeler sales is indicative of positive sentiments in the economy. “There has also been a lot of pent-up demand because this market has been down significantly in the past few years. But this segment is coming up, which is a good sign,” says Aggarwal.

The wholesales in the commercial vehicle segment surged to 6.9% YoY to 2,47,929 units during the quarter under review, as against 2,31,991 units in the same period last year. According to SIAM, this is led by good growth in medium and heavy commercial vehicles.

The wholesales of two-wheelers continued a downward trend during the period under review, by witnessing a decline of 1.6% year-on-year (YoY) to 45,98,442 units as against 46,73,931 units in the same period last year. "The rural income is still at a low level. So the income level for the entry-level segment is still low, which is also indicative of less growth in the two-wheelers and scooters segment," says Aggarwal.

Passenger Vehicle Exports

Geo-political situation, foreign exchange issues pull down auto exports by 6%: SIAM