April passenger cars sales surge 17%: SIAM

New Delhi, May 9: Domestic passenger cars' sales rose by 17.36 per cent in April, industry data showed on Tuesday.

As per the data furnished by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), sales of passenger cars surged to 190,788 units from 162,566 sold in April 2016.

The off-take of other sub-segments such as utility vehicles rose by 13.71 per cent during the month under review to 70,691 units from 62,170 units in April 2016.

However, sales of vans declined by 6.93 per cent to 16,123 units.

The industry data revealed that domestic passenger vehicles' sales rose by 14.68 per cent in April to 277,602 units from 242,060 units sold during the corresponding period of 2016.

However, the data showed that overall commercial vehicles' sales declined by 22.93 per cent to 41,490 units in April. The segment is a key indicator of economic activity.

Similarly, the three-wheelers segment's off-take also receded. It declined by 18.05 per cent to 36,588 units during the month under review.

In contrast, the overall sales of two-wheelers, which include scooters, motorcycles and mopeds, was up by 7.34 per cent to 1,674,796 units.

Product-wise, scooter sales last month rose by 25.30 per cent to 586,886 units, while motorcycle sub-segment's off-take inched-up buy 0.50 per cent to 1,029,972 units. Mopeds segment's sales was lower by 13.58 per cent to 57,938 units.

The industry data disclosed that the Indian automobile sector reported a rise of 6.82 per cent in April 2017 -- with total sales at 2,030,476 units across segments and categories.

Moreover, the overall exports across categories increased by 30.44 per cent to 318,699 units during last month.

In addition, SIAM elaborated that domestic auto industry has committed massive investments to upgrade technology and develop new platforms to meet stringent future requirements of safety, fuel economy and emissions. 

According to K.K. Gandhi, Executive Director (Technical) for SIAM, the industry has already started investing heavily to develop new technologies and platforms which would total around Rs 1 lakh crore till 2020-22.