It’s very natural for people
to rush in to buy vehicles when they know that the prices of the vehicles are
going to be increased soon. This is what happened when people in India realised
that the government was in no mood to extend the excise relief for vehicles
beyond December 2014. It resulted in some healthy purchases in December 2014
with the auto industry selling 152,543 passenger cars in December 2014 as
compared to 132524 units in December 2013. The sales increased by 15.26pc. These
figures were released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM)
in New Delhi on January 9, 2015.
The total auto industry
comprising passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, three-wheelers and
two-wheelers registered sales of 1512881 units, an increase of 5.68pc in the
month of December 2014. Exports grew by 16.79pc to 336955 units.
Exports for the month of
December 2014 for passenger cars increased to 60,407 units, thereby registering
a 24.42pc increase. Passenger utility vehicles sold 43256 units, registering a
7.67pc increase. Exports of these vehicles for the month stood to 8887 units,
an increase of 127.52pc. In December 2014, medium and heavy commercial vehicles
(M&HCVs) domestic sales increased by 58.33pc to 21802 units. Exports for
the month increased to 2742 units (77.94pc increase). Total LCV domestic sales
however decreased to 29198 units, dropping by 11.56pc. Exports too decreased by
4.98pc to 3971 units
Production
The industry produced a total
of 1,850,616 vehicles including passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, three
wheelers and two wheelers in December 2014 as against 1,741,237 in December
2013, registering a growth of 6.28 pc over the same month last year.
Domestic Sales
The sales of Passenger
Vehicles grew by 3.67 pc in April-December 2014 over the same period last year.
Within the Passenger Vehicles segment, Passenger Cars and Utility Vehicles grew
by 4.99 pc and 5.49 pc respectively, while Vans declined by (-) 12.63 pc in
April-December 2014 over the same period last year.
The overall Commercial
Vehicles segment registered a de-growth of (-) 5.65 percent in April-December
2014 as compared to same period last year. Medium & Heavy Commercial
Vehicles (M&HCVs) grew by 10.33 percent and Light Commercial Vehicles
declined by (-) 12.77 percent.
Three Wheelers sales grew by
14.10 percent in April-December 2014 over the same period last year. Passenger
Carriers and Goods Carriers grew by 15.47 percent and 8.17 percent respectively
in April-December 2014 over April-December 2013.
Two Wheelers sales registered
growth of 11.04 percent in April-December 2014 over April-December 2013. Within
the Two Wheelers segment, Scooters, Motorcycles and Mopeds grew by 27.71
percent, 5.54 percent and 9.88 percent respectively in April-December 2014 over
April-December 2013.
Exports
In April-December 2014,
overall automobile exports grew by 20.75 percent over the same period last
year. Passenger Vehicles, Commercial Vehicles, Three Wheelers and Two Wheelers
grew by 6.21 percent, 14.58 percent, 20.56 percent and 25.26 percent
respectively during April-December 2014 over the same period last year.