Car sales rose 9.62% in India last month while overall passenger vehicles grew 16.78%, driven mainly by robust sales of utility vehicles including Maruti Suzuki's Vitara Brezza and Hyundai's Creta. According to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales stood at 2,59,685 units in July as against 2,22,368 units in July 2015.
"The new models in the UV segment have created a lot of excitement in the market. Also the sentiment is positive due to better rains and coming of the 7th Pay Commission. All these factors put together are responsible for the off take which is happening," SIAM Deputy Secretary General Sugato Sen told reporters. Growth in overall PV sales was driven by UVs, which saw a jump of 41.85% to 64,105 units as against 45,191 units in the same month last year.
"The PV sales have grown at the fastest pace since October 2015 when it had posted a growth of 21.46%," Sen said. On the other hand, car sales were at 1,77,604 units up from 1,62,022 units in July last year. "It is after two months of decline that we have seen car sales grow in July. But still the cumulative sales during the year remain sluggish. Customers are moving towards Utility vehicles, including compact SUVs," Sen said.
Market leader Maruti Suzuki India saw domestic car sales increase by 2.21% in July to 93,634 units from 91,602 units a year ago. Its UV sales jumped 151% to 17,382 units from 6,916 units. Rival Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) also saw its car sales increase by 12.15% to 33,197 in July as against 29,599 units in the same month last year. The company saw its UV sales rise 15.93 to 8,004 units during the month from 6,904 units in July last year.