Car Sales September 2019: SUVs Demand On The Upswing During Festive Season, Despite Slowdown

Heavy discounts on some of the highly popular SUVs, like the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and Hyundai Creta, have managed to spur the demand in the UV segment. At a time when the entire auto industry is undergoing a prolonged slowdown and overall PV sales have recorded a double-digit sales decline, the UVs segment has shown a substantial improvement. According to data published by the Society Of India Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Utility Vehicles have recorded a growth of 5.49 per cent in September 2019 selling 81,625 units as compared to 77,380 units which were sold in the same month last year.

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That said, the negative trend in auto sales continues to distress the industry as overall sales are still tremendously under pressure. In September 2019, the passenger vehicle segment overall is down by 23.69 per cent at 223,317 units as opposed to 292,660 units in the same period last year. The passenger cars segment took a major hit in September witnessing a YoY sales decline of 33.40 per cent at 131,281 units as opposed to 197,124 units in the same month last year while the vans segment which already has a low base with lesser offerings recorded a whopping decline of 42.66 per cent at 10,411 units as compared to 18,156 units in the same month last year.

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Surprisingly, despite attractive festive season offers, sales of two-wheelers in the same month went down by 22.09 per cent at 16,56,774 units as opposed to 21,26,445 units a year ago. Sales of three wheelers in September 2019 went down by 3.92 per cent at 66,362 units as compared to 69,066 units which were sold in September 2019. The commercial vehicle segment too witnessed a slump of 39.06 per cent 58,419 units against 95,870 units which were sold in the same month last year. Overall, the entire auto industry (including Quadricycles) recorded a sales decline of 22.41 per cent selling 20,04,932 units in September 2019 as opposed to 25,84,062 units which were sold a year ago.

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In the first two quarters or H1 of FY2020, carmakers have recorded a de-growth of 23.56 per cent selling 13,33,251 units during April - September 2019 period compared to 17,44,279 units in the same period last year. To split it up, sales of passenger cars went down by 30.30 per cent at 815,157 units as opposed to 11,69,497 units which were sold a year ago. The UV segment witnessed a YoY sales decline of 3.78 per cent at 446,847 units as opposed to 464,393 units a year ago while the Vans segment slumped by 35.46 per cent at 71,247 units compared to 110,389 units which were sold in the same period last year.

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Two wheeler sales in the same period went down by 16.18 per cent at 96,96,733 units as compared to 1,15,68,498 units a year ago while three-wheelers sales were down by 6.66 per cent at 330,696 units as compared to 354,279 units. At the same duration, sales of commercial vehicles declined by 22.95 per cent at 375,480 units against 487,319 units in the same period a year ago. Overall, the entire industry (including quadricycles) has recorded a YoY sales decline of 17.08 per cent at 1,17,36,976 units as compared to 1,41,54,463 units.