India Auto Sales Rise As Chip Shortage Eases In July: SIAM Data

Indian automakers' sales rose in July as the supply of semiconductors improved.

The dispatches of passenger vehicles rose 11% year-on-year to 2,93,865 units in July, data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers showed. The segment comprising passenger cars, utility vehicles, and vans witnessed growth across categories. Sequentially, the sales were up 6.6%.

Sales of two-wheelers increased 9.6% year-on-year to 13.81 lakh units in the month.

With senior industry executives claiming that the worst of the chip shortage is over, production also jumped as companies gear up for the upcoming festival season.

The automakers ramped up the output of passenger vehicles by 7.7% in July. For two-wheelers, it rose 3.7%.

However, SIAM highlighted the weakness in entry-level markets for passenger cars, two- and three-wheelers, reflecting the impact of inflation on the financially vulnerable section of society.

The third straight hike in the repo to rein in high inflation will make auto loans costlier, making it more difficult for entry-level vehicles to recover, Rajesh Menon, director general of SIAM, said in a statement.

SIAM, however, sees a hope for the CNG segment. The lobby of vehicle manufacturers said the government’s decision to increase natural gas allocation to CNG may significantly bring down the input cost of city gas distributors.

“We hope, that in-line with the Government’s intent, the gas companies would pass on the entire benefit to the end consumers by reducing retail CNG prices,” Menon said.

SIAM July 2022 Volumes (YoY)

• Cars sales rose 10% to 143,522 units.

• Wholesales of utility vehicles rose 10.5% to 137,104 units.

• Scooter sales jumped 28% to 479,159 units.

• Motorcycle sales rose nearly 4% to 870,028 units.

• Three-wheeler sales jumped 73% to 31,324 units.