The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers revealed that passenger vehicle sales in India for the month of January 2023 were the best ever recorded in the month. Domestic sales of passenger vehicles stood at 2,98,093 units for the month with utility vehicles outselling passenger cars. Sales were up 17.23 per cent over January 2022.
Within the PV segment, sales of utility vehicles outpaced those of passenger cars with a 27.7 per cent growth year-no-year to 1,49,328 units. Passenger car sales meanwhile stood at 1,36,931 units – about 10,000 more than January 2022.
| Category | Domestic Sales | Exports | ||
| Segment/Subsegment | January | January | ||
| 2022 | 2023 | 2022 | 2023 | |
| Passenger Vehicles (PVs)* | ||||
| Passenger Cars | 1,26,693 | 1,36,931 | 25,226 | 31,002 |
| Utility Vehicles (UVs) | 1,16,962 | 1,49,328 | 15,505 | 24,527 |
| Vans | 10,632 | 11,834 | 50 | 22 |
| Total Passenger Vehicles (PVs) | 2,54,287 | 2,98,093 | 40,781 | 55,551 |
| Three Wheelers | ||||
| Passenger Carrier | 16,592 | 37,061 | 37,910 | 22,995 |
| Goods Carrier | 5,868 | 8,346 | 1,241 | 85 |
| E-Rickshaw | 1,416 | 3,188 | - | - |
| E-Cart | 302 | 308 | - | - |
| Total Three Wheelers | 24,178 | 48,903 | 39,151 | 23,080 |
| Two Wheelers | ||||
| Scooter/ Scooterettee | 3,61,299 | 3,76,035 | 33,369 | 30,256 |
| Motorcycle/Step-Throughs | 7,43,804 | 7,71,621 | 3,41,453 | 1,89,439 |
| Mopeds | 35,785 | 36,723 | 144 | 408 |
| Total Two Wheelers | 11,40,888 | 11,84,379 | 3,74,966 | 2,20,103 |
| Quadricycle | 1 | 72 | 49 | 306 |
| Grand Total | 14,19,354 | 15,31,447 | 4,54,947 | 2,99,040 |
Three-wheeler sales meanwhile almost doubled in number to 48,903 units year-on-year though two-wheeler sales remained relatively flat with just a 4 per cent growth to 11,84,379 units. Scooter sales grew from 3,61,299 units in January 2022 to 3,76,035 units last month while motorcycle sales grew a minor 3.7 per cent to 7,71,621 units. Moped sales meanwhile grew a marginal 2.6 per cent from 35,785 units to 36,723 units.
Commenting on January 2023 sales data, Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM said, “Passenger Vehicles again saw highest ever sales in the month of January and for the first time, it has crossed 3 million sales mark in 10 months, from April to January period. Sales of L5 category Three-Wheeler more than doubled in January 2023, compared to January 2022, while Two-Wheelers posted a marginal growth of just around 4% in the month of January 2023, compared to January 2022.”
| Category | Domestic Sales | Exports | ||
| Segment/Subsegment | April-January | April-January | ||
| 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | |
| Passenger Vehicles (PVs)* | ||||
| Passenger Cars | 11,56,458 | 14,36,762 | 3,00,935 | 3,47,291 |
| Utility Vehicles (UVs) | 11,52,968 | 16,18,922 | 1,62,172 | 1,98,980 |
| Vans | 93,699 | 1,14,104 | 1,671 | 317 |
| Total Passenger Vehicles (PVs) | 24,03,125 | 31,69,788 | 4,64,778 | 5,46,588 |
| Three Wheelers | ||||
| Passenger Carrier | 1,33,443 | 2,82,186 | 4,16,498 | 3,22,433 |
| Goods Carrier | 59,738 | 77,968 | 8,700 | 4,142 |
| E-Rickshaw | 8,049 | 21,321 | - | - |
| E-Cart | 946 | 2,551 | - | - |
| Total Three Wheelers | 2,02,176 | 3,84,026 | 4,25,198 | 3,26,575 |
| Two Wheelers | ||||
| Scooter/ Scooterettee | 33,81,753 | 43,61,347 | 3,03,771 | 3,40,636 |
| Motorcycle/Step-Throughs | 75,39,698 | 87,11,119 | 34,03,822 | 28,27,909 |
| Mopeds | 3,99,653 | 3,69,407 | 8,608 | 2,916 |
| Total Two Wheelers | 1,13,21,104 | 1,34,41,873 | 37,16,201 | 31,71,461 |
| Quadricycle | 65 | 513 | 4,188 | 1,506 |
| Grand Total | 1,39,26,470 | 1,69,96,200 | 46,10,365 | 40,46,130 |
A strong buying sentiment also reflected in the cumulative sales for the current financial year with 31,69,788 units in the passenger vehicle segment – another first for the Indian market. Two-wheeler sales in the April 2022 to Jan 2023 window meanwhile stood at 1,34,41,873 units – up from 1,13,21,104 units in the same period a year ago. Three-wheeler sales also saw notable growth climbing to 3,84,026 units from 2,02,176 units.
Moving to exports, the passenger vehicle segment posted a 36.2 per cent growth to 55,551 units while exports of both two-wheelers and three-wheelers were down on a year-on-year basis. Three-wheeler exports stood at 23,080 units, down from 39,151 units while two wheeler exports shrunk by over 1.54 lakh units to 2,20,103. Overall exports for the month stood at 2,99,040 units as against 4,54,947 units a year ago.
Cumulative exports also displayed a similar trend with exports of passenger vehicles gaining year-on-year though both three-wheelers and two-wheelers posted a decline in numbers.
