Automobile Industry Witnesses 2.3% Growth In September 2023

Updated: Tuesday, October 17, 2023, 21:53 [IST]

The Indian automobile industry is among the biggest in the world. As such, the Indian automobile industry has always been very lucrative for automakers across the globe. However, it is not very easy as Indian consumers have been known to be very demanding.

In recent years, the Indian automobile industry has been witnessing tremendous growth, especially after the pandemic. Though the pandemic is more than a couple of years behind, the Indian automobile industry is showing no signs of slowing down.

Looking into the numbers, the Indian automobile industry witnessed a 2.3 per cent growth in September 2023 by managing to sell 21,41,208 units. In comparison, only 20,93,286 units were sold in September 2022.

Passenger Vehicle Sales (Wholesales - Domestic Market)

However, looking at the Passenger Vehicle wholesales, only 3,16,908 units were sold in September 2023. This marks only a small increment in YoY sales figures as the industry witnessed 3,07,389 unit sales in September 2022.

This 3 per cent increase in Passenger Vehicle wholesales can be attributed to factors such as new car launches. As such, we expect sales figures in the coming months to have even better sales figures when compared with September 2023.

Passenger Car & Van Sales Dwindle

Further looking into the sales figures, we can see that passenger car and van sales were affected massively as the automobile industry managed to witness sales dwindling from 1,42,727 units (September 2022) to just 1,11,889 units (September 2023).

Meanwhile, van sales figures also declined from 12,903 units (September 2022) to 11,147 units (September 2023). All this is quite concerning as sales slump ahead of the festive season is not good for the industry growth.

Utility Vehicle Sales Spike

Though the passenger car and van sales slumped, utility vehicle sales in September 2023 spiked to 1,93,872 units. In comparison, only 1,52,759 utility vehicles were sold in September 2022.

The increase in utility vehicles is a very positive sign as it indicates increased demand of commodities movement in the market, which further translates to growing business in the country. This could potentially lead to a stronger economy and better GDP growth as well.

Two-Wheeler Sales Nominal

In September 2023, two-wheeler sales stood at 17,49,794 units. Though a very respectable figure, and shows the strength of the Indian two-wheeler industry, the growth seems very nominal as the industry witnessed sales of 17,35,199 units in September 2022.
Other Details

Looking at quarterly sales, passenger car and van sales slumped, however, SUV sales figures surged. Overall, the passenger vehicle wholesales reported sales of 10,74,189 units in Q2 FY2024 (10,26,309 units in Q2 FY2023).