New Delhi [India], May 20 (ANI): The sudden and severe onset of second wave of Covid-19 pandemic in the country has derailed recovery momentum of automobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and auto-ancillaries to an extent, investment information firm ICRA said on Thursday.
Automobile companies posted exponential growth in their year-on-year wholesale numbers in March mainly because of the low base effect due to Covid-related disruptions last year.
In the passenger vehicle segment, market leader Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) reported despatch of 1,46,203 units in the domestic market in March compared with 76,240 units in the same month last year. However, on a yearly basis, its sales fell by more than 8 per cent to 12.94 lakh units compared with 14.14 lakh units in 2019-20.
“Domestic sales in March 2020 had dropped about 48 per cent due to Covid-19-related disruptions. However, domestic sales in March 2021 have only recovered to March 2019 levels,” the company said.
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Low interest rates, along with pent-up demand, especially for utility vehicles (UVs), accelerated domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales in February on both year-on-year (y-o-y) and sequential basis. According to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) PV sales increased 17.92% during February 2021.
During the month, passenger car sales inched 4.43% to 155,128 from 148,541 units a year-ago period, while UV sales jumped 45.35% to 114,350 units from 78,674 units. Sales of vans increased by 4.34% to 11,902 units during February this year. Total sales in PV segment witnessed an increase of 17.92% to 281,380 units compared with 238,622 units in February 2020.
Two-wheelers, including scooters, motorcycles, mopeds and electric-two-wheelers, witnessed 10.20% growth in February sales. A total of 1,426,865 units were sold during the month, compared with 1,294,787 units, same month a year ago. Scooter and motorcycle segment witnessed a growth of over 10% w
Automobile sales brush aside COVID blues, post record growth in February
Market leader Maruti Suzuki saw a 8.3 per cent growth at 144,761 units while Hyundai witnessed a 29 per cent jump at 51,600 units
Sumant Banerji | March 1, 2021 | Updated 18:23 IST
Barring Ford and Skoda, every car maker in the country witnessed a growth in sales year on year
Highlights
Passenger vehicle segment posts strong 23 per cent growth to log highest ever sales for the month of February.
Tally was only a shade lower than the all-time high monthly sales achieved during the festive month of October last yea.
The strong growth comes despite supply-side issues due to a global semiconductor shortage that handicapped production at some companies.