Factory-gate shipments of cars and utility vehicles rose for the fifth straight month as automakers pushed inventory to dealers anticipating pre-buying ahead of January price hikes across models.
Domestic wholesales of passenger vehicles rose 13.59% year-on-year to 2.52 lakh units in December, according to data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers on Thursday.
Car sales, which declined in the previous month, rose 8.36% over a year earlier to 1.46 lakh units.
Wholesales of utility vehicles jumped 19.75% to 94,787 units—the fifth straight month of pick-up for the segment.
The total two-wheeler sales also rose for the fifth straight month in December.
Shipments, however, declined 4.5% over the previous month as the festive season demand waned.
Passenger vehicle and two-wheeler segments have shown some recovery in the third quarter ended December, while commercial vehicle and three-wheeler segments are still in the negative zone, Kenichi Ayukawa, president at SIAM, said on a call with reporters. “[But] If we look at the cumulative numbers of the nine-month period from April to December 2020, it shows that sales of all segments are still behind by many years.”
“Passenger vehicle sales are behind by nearly a decade, while two-wheeler sales are behind by seven years,” Ayukawa said.
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