Passenger car sales inch up in October

New Delhi, Nov 10 (IANS) Sales of passenger cars rose 0.45 per cent in October to 195,036 units from 194,158 units in the corresponding month last year, industry data showed on Thursday.

The utility vehicles' off-take surged in the month under review by 21.37 per cent to 70,544 units, while van sales were down 7.67 per cent to 15,097 units.

According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the total passenger vehicle sales, which includes cars, utility vehicles and vans, rose by 4.48 per cent to 280,677 units last month.

The industry data revealed that sales of overall commercial vehicles increased by 11.90 per cent. The segment is a key indicator of economic activity.

The commercial vehicles segment's off-take for October 2016 was 65,569 units.

Three-wheelers sales logged a growth of 4.35 per cent to 54,653 units last month.

Overall, sales of two-wheelers, which include scooters, motorcycles and mopeds, rose by 8.72 per cent to 1,800,672 units.

Product-wise, scooter sales in the month under review grew by 8.24 per cent to 568,410 units, while the motorcycle sub-segment sales logged a growth of 7.37 per cent to 1,144,516 units.

Besides, mopeds' off-take zoomed by 34.50 per cent to 87,746 units.

Nevertheless, the overall exports across categories rose a tad by 0.31 per cent to 290,243 units which were shipped out during last month.

Total automobile sales in October were higher by 8.14 per cent to 2,201,571 units.

"Overall this festive season is better than last year. This is reflected clearly in the growth numbers of certain segments such as two wheelers, cars and some OEM's who have launched new products which addresses changing customer preferences," said Abdul Majeed, Partner- Price Waterhouse and an auto expert.

"This growth momentum is also backed by positive customers sentiments and better cash flows both in rural and urban markets. Medium and heavy commercial vehicles reflected positive growth in October with the expectations of secondary sales picking up pace in the next few months due to increase in freight demand," Majeed was quoted as saying in a statement.