Feb Numbers Buoyant But Exports Remain A Worry

Mobility Outlook Bureau
10 Mar 2023
05:19 PM
2 Min Read

Retails were up 9.8% in the domestic market while exports fell by 34.8%. The good news is that two-wheeler sales are back on track after being down for long.


SIAM Februrary 2023

As the auto industry gradually gets back on track, February retails were up by 9.8% YoY to 1,472,078 units as compared to 1,340,147 units in the same time last year.

According to SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) data released here on Friday, exports fell by 34.8% to 301,561 units from 463,025 units in the same month last year. In calendar 2022, exports were down by 20.8% YoY and by 34.2% in January to 2,99,040 units.

Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM said passenger vehicles (PVs) posted highest ever sales of February with the three-wheeler segment also posting “appreciable growth” during the month compared to the last two years.

Two-wheelers posted a moderate growth of 8% in February and for April-February this fiscal, both two- and three-wheelers were yet to reach pre-COVID levels.

SIAM’s Concerns

Vinod Aggarwal, President, SIAM, said the overall positive sentiments in the market continue with the recent Budget announcements powering the rally. The industry is fully geared up for transition to phase 2 of BS 6 from next month.

However, he continued, the hike in repo rates in February would result in higher cost of borrowings and SIAM was hopeful that these would get moderated suitably. Likewise, CNG prices also needed to be affordable enough to expand the footprint of gas-based mobility, added Aggarwal.

Booming PV Space

Post-COVID, there has been tremendous growth in PVs with February retails at 2,91,928 units, 11% more than the same month last year.

Cars grew 6.4% to 142,201 units and UVs by 15.15% to 138,238 units. Vans were up 23.6% to 11,489 units. The growth trends are at par with the preceding month, January, when cars grew by 17.22% while UVs and vans saw 27.6% and 11.3% growth respectively.

However, exports continued to slide and were down by 9.2% to 46,486 units. The exception was in the UV segment which saw a 19.9% rise in exports to 21,139 units while cars and vans segment were down by 24.7% and 86.6%.

2Ws Coming Back

Unlike the previous year, the two-wheeler segment has gradually started to show a revival over the last few months. While January saw a growth of 3.8%, February was better at 7.57% with 1,129,661 units.

Scooter and motorcycles posted retails of 391,054 units and 703,261 units respectively, representing 9.7% and 6.8% growth respectively. Mopeds, however, fell 1.4% to 35,346 units. Exports took a beating and crashed by 37.4% which saw scooters fall by 34.4% to 33,378 units while motorcycles and mopeds were down by 45.5% and 62.3% respectively.

The headwinds in exports were seen in January too when the 2W segment plummeted 41.3% to 2,20,103 units. Mopeds, however, showed an increase of 183.3% to 408 units while exports of scooters and motorcycles fell by 9.3% and 44.5% respectively.

3W Sales Climb

With retails of 50,382 units in February, the 3W segment posted a growth of 86% YoY. Passenger carriers led the pack with 113.7% while the goods carrier, e-rickshaw and e-cart posted growth of 15.6%, 109.3% and 91% respectively.

Exports, however, suffered with a 45.4% fall to 35,997 units. With only 254 units shipped out, the goods carrier segment was the worst hit and crashed 78.4% with passenger carriers down by 44.3%.

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