Passenger vehicle sales rose over 15 per cent in July driven by restocking of vehicles at dealerships after GST implementation.
According to data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), passenger vehicle sales rose 15.12 per cent to 2,98,997 units in July from 2,59,720 units in the same month last year.
Car sales were up 8.52 per cent at 1,92,773 units against 1,77,639 units in July last year. Utility vehicles sales also rose 35.72 per cent to 86,874 units.
“In June, dealers were liquidating their stocks while the reverse has happened in July. Dealers have replenished their stocks across segments last month,” SIAM Director General Vishnu Mathur told reporters here.
It will be clear by next month only as how retail sales have happened during the period, he added.
He, however, said the second half is expected to be better in terms of sales on the back of good monsoon and rural sales also expected to pick up.
During the April-July period, passenger vehicles grew 7.9 per cent compared to the same period of previous year. Commercial vehicles sales were, however, down 3.67 per cent during the period.
SIAM has given a outlook of 7-9 per cent growth in the passenger vehicles segment for the current fiscal.
Last month, market leader Maruti Suzuki India continued its domination in the domestic PV space by selling 1,53,298 units, representing a growth of 21.89 per cent.
Rival Hyundai Motor India sold 43,007 units with an increase of 4.38 per cent followed by home grown Mahindra & Mahindra at the third spot with 20,962 units, up 20.78 per cent.
Honda Cars sold 17,085 units during the month, up 21.75 per cent, while Tata Motors dispatched 16,793 units, a growth of 6.58 per cent.
Total two-wheeler sales in July grew 13.73 per cent to 16,79,055 units from 14,76,332 units in the year-ago month.Motorcycle sales last month rose 16.9 per cent to 10,48,657 units last month compared with 8,97,084 units a year earlier.
Market leader Hero MotoCorp sold 5,43,938 units in July compared withe 4,48,119 in the same month previous fiscal, up 21.38 per cent.
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) sold 1,68,075 units last month against 1,20,381 units in the year-ago period, up 39.61 per cent. Bajaj Auto posted sales of 1,64,915 units against 1,74,324 units in July 2016, down 5.39 per cent.
Scooter sales in July were at 5,69,809 units compared with 5,04,258 units in the previous fiscal, up 13 per cent. Segment leader HMSI posted sales of 3,43,885 units during the month against 3,09,170 in July 2016, up 11.22 per cent.
Chennai-based TVS Motor Co posted a growth of 38.54 per cent in its domestic scooter sales at 89,646 units compared with 64,704 units sold in July 2016. Hero MotoCorp sold 67,369 scooters during the month compared with 72,440 units in the same period last year, down 7 per cent.
Sales of commercial vehicles increased 13.78 per cent to 59,000 units in July. Vehicle sales across categories registered a growth of 13.3 per cent to 20,78,313 units from 18,34,302 units in July 2016, SIAM said.