Indian automobile industry witnesses strong growth in April despite semiconductor shortage

The total domestic passenger vehicle (PV) wholesale (dispatches to dealers) grew by 13 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to 3,31,278 units in April compared to 2,93,303 units in the same month last year.

The sales were led by utility vehicles (UVs) at 1,48,005 units during the month, a growth of 16.28 per cent YoY compared with 1,27,282 units in the corresponding month last year.

Domestic passenger car sales also rose by 16.36 per cent YoY to 1,25,758 units during last month against 1,12,923 units in April 2022, the monthly data shared by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), said on Friday.

However, the production of passenger cars declined by 5.59 per cent YoY 1,42,933 units in April compared with 1,51,398 units in April last year. The drop in production is mainly due to the semiconductor shortage in the whole industry.

• Read: Most PV makers report double digit growth in April 

In the two-wheeler segment, motorcycle sales grew by 14.13 per cent YoY to 8,39,274 units during the month compared with 7,35,360 units in April 2022.

Scooter sales also grew 19.55 per cent YoY to 4,64,389 units in April against 3,88,442 units in the corresponding month last year.

Total domestic two-wheeler sales grew by 15.13 per cent YoY to 13,38,588 units during last month compared with 11,62,582 units in April 2022.

• Read: Electric vehicle sales see y-o-y growth in Apri

Total three-wheeler sales in the domestic market also more than doubled 42,885 units in April compared with 20,997 units in April 2022.

The total number of vehicles in all categories grew by 16 per cent YoY to 16,65,805 units during the month as compared with 14,35,321 units in April 2022, the SIAM data indicated.

“All the segments, including passenger vehicles, two-wheelers, and three-wheelers have posted growth in April 2023, compared to April 2022. This indicates that the industry has been able to smoothly transition to BS6 Phase-2 emission norms from April 1, 2023. As the monsoon season approaches, good rainfal and other factors can help sustain the growth of the auto industry,” Vinod Aggarwal, President, SIAM said.

According to Rajesh Menon, the Director General of SIAM, the sales of PVs in April 2023 have recorded the highest-ever in April, with a growth of 12.9 per cent, compared to April 2022. He salso mentioned that the domestic sales of three-wheelers in April 2023 have almost reached the pre-Covid levels for the same month.

Production

On the production side, the automobile industry produced 19,57,599 units of vehicles across categories, a growth of 3.51 per cent YoY, as compared with 18,91,215 units in April last year.

However, on exports, it declined by 34 per cent YoY to 3,22,476 during the month as compared with 4,87,783 units in April last year, mainly due to the decline in two-wheelers shipments. The two-wheeler exports declined by 36.31 per cent YoY to 2,58,187 units in April as against 4,05,439 units in same month last year, the SIAM data indicated.