2023 marked the first time that more than 4 million passenger vehicle wholesales were recorded in a year. Domestic passenger vehicle wholesales stood at just over 41 lakh units in calendar year 2023, up 8.15 per cent over 2022, when it stood at 37.92 lakh units. While the sale of passenger cars as a whole were lower than last year by 7.7 per cent, this was counteracted by the sale of utility vehicles (up by 22.4 per cent) and vans. Production figures tell the same story with the numbers of cars produced falling by 5.4 per cent and utility vehicles, exhibiting a rise in production by 20.1 per cent. Export numbers on the other hand increased across all categories, putting the total number of exports at 6.77 lakh units, up by 5.1 per cent over last year.
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Two-wheeler wholesales grew from 15.6 million in CY22 to 17.07 million in CY23
Aside from this, two-wheeler wholesales also saw an increase, from 15.6 million in CY22 to 17.07 million in CY23, up by 9.12 per cent. While the production numbers for two wheelers also saw an increase, exports fell by nearly 20 per cent from 40.53 lakh units in 2022 to 32.43 lakh in 2023. Similarly, the three-wheeler segment also witnessed significant increases in wholesales and production but saw a decrease of nearly 42 per cent in exports, down from 4.17 lakh units in 2022 to 2.91 lakh units in 2023.
Commenting on sales data of 2023 calendar year, Mr Vinod Aggarwal, President, SIAM said, “Year 2023 has been reasonably satisfactory for the Automobile Sector, as Passenger Vehicles, Commercial Vehicles and Two Wheelers have posted single digit growth, while three wheelers have made a very good recovery. Various schemes of Government of India that have been operational now, are showing good results, and is also helping the Auto Industry to seamlessly transform to new powertrain realms. Auto Industry is optimistic that the growth momentum would continue in year 2024 as well.”
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In December 2023, passenger vehicle wholesales stood at 2.86 lakh units, up from 2.75 lakh units in 2022. This represents an increase of 4 per cent. While the wholesale of cars were down yet again, from 1.04 lakh units to 75,544 units, utility vehicles grew by 31 per cent from 1.57 lakh units to 1.20 lakh units. Production numbers also tell the same story, while exports on the other hand, saw a decrease for both passenger cars (2.2 per cent) and utility vehicles (27.65 per cent), compared to the same month in 2022.
Two-wheeler wholesales in December 2023 also saw a rise of nearly 16 per cent, from 10.45 lakh unit sales in 2022, to 12.12 lakh units in 2023. This was followed by a 26 per cent increase in production from 2022 and a 5.6 per cent increase in exports. While three-wheelers saw an increase in both wholesales and production numbers, its exports went down marginally.
