PV sales decline 2.46% in August; car sales down 1%

New Delhi: Domestic passenger vehicle sales declined for the second month in succession with 2.46 per cent drop in August due to high base effect and partial impact of floods in Kerala, automobile industry body SIAM said Tuesday.

According to data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales stood at to 2,87,186 units last month as against 2,94,416 units in August last year.

Car sales declined 1.03 per cent to 1,96,847 units last month as against 1,98,892 units in August last year.

Meanwhile, Auto stocks fell up to 4.2 per cent Tuesday after domestic passenger vehicle sales declined for the second month in succession. Shares of Apollo Tyres tumbled 4.17 per cent, Hero MotoCorp declined 3.06 per cent, Tata Motors lost 3.03 per cent, TVS Motor Company 2.64 per cent, Ashok Leyland 1.73 per cent, Maruti Suzuki India 1.56 per cent and Bajaj Auto 1.24 per cent on BSE. Led by losses in these stocks, the BSE auto index fell 1.52 per cent to end at 23,903.70.

PV sales in July had declined by 2.71 per cent to 2,90,960 units from 2,99,066 units in the same month previous year. Car sales had also declined marginally to 1,91,979 units in July compared to 1,92,845 in the year-ago month. "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 here.

Besides, there is also some impact of floods, specially in Kerala which is a big automotive market, he added.

Mathur, however, said the current high fuel prices had little impact on vehicle sales.

"Fuel prices keep fluctuating and it doesn't have an immediate impact on sales, although in the long term it can have some impact," he said.

During the month, market leader Maruti Suzuki India posted 3.55 per cent decline in PV sales at 1,45,895 units. Rival Hyundai Motor India also saw 2.76 per cent dip at 45,801 units.

Tata Motors, however, posted 24.98 per cent jump in its PV sales in August at 20,323 units. According to SIAM, motorcycle sales last month grew by 6.18 per cent to 12,06,512 units as compared to 11,36,322 units in August 2017. Scooter sales were marginally down at 6,69,416 units as against 6,73,444 units in August last year. Total two-wheeler sales in August were higher by 2.91 per cent to 19,46,811 units as against 18,91,685 units in the year-ago month.

"Two-wheeler sales were partially affected by the restriction imposed in West Bengal on new purchases without driving licence," Mathur said.

In the motorcycle segment, market leader Hero MotoCorp posted 1.29 per cent increase at 5,91,401 units in August. Rival Bajaj Auto saw its sales jump by 27.25 per cent to 2,18,437 units.

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) recorded 4.9 per cent increase in its bike sales at 2,01,348 units last month. In the scooter segment, leader HMSI saw sales dip by 4.66 per cent to 3,75,901 units. Chennai-based TVS Motor Co, however, posted 9.8 per cent increase at 1,20,198 units.

Hero MotoCorp's scooter sales in August were at 71,639 units, down 7.73 per cent. SIAM said sales of commercial vehicles jumped by 29.56 per cent to 84,668 units in August as against 65,350 units in the year-ago month. SIAM said sales of commercial vehicles jumped by 29.56 per cent to 84,668 units in August as against 65,350 units in the year-ago month.

"Considering how this segment has grown above expectations we are looking at having a re-look at our forecast for an upward revision," SIAM Deputy Director General Sugato Sen said.