Passenger car sales grew 1.87% in April after 3 months of decline

Domestic passenger car sales growth returned to positive in April 2016, after three months of fall. According to data released by industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), passenger car sales rose 1.87 percent to 1,62,566 units last month as against 1,59,588 units in April 2015.

"If we talk only about cars, then growth during the last month came largely from new launches like the Baleno and the Kwid," SIAM Director General Vishnu Mathur was quoted by Money Control as saying in New Delhi.

The first three month of this calendar year saw decline in passenger car sales after a 14-month climb. The sales of total passenger vehicles grew 11.04 percent to 2,42,060 units as against 2,17,989 units in April 2016 over the same month last year. Apart from passenger cars, utility vehicles and vans also registered growth of 42.82 percent and 16.46 percent, respectively, in April 2016 as compared to the year-ago period.

"If we see the total passenger vehicle segment, it has grown by over 11 percent. It is mainly due to the robust growth of utility vehicles like Hyundai Creta, Maruti Vitara Brezza and vehicles like Mahindra's KUV100," Mathur said.

Total two-wheeler sales rose 21.23 percent to 15,60,339 units last month. Within the two-wheeler segment, sales of scooters, motorcycles and mopeds grew by 35.86 percent, 16.24 percent and 10.71 percent, respectively, in April 2016 over April 2015.

Sales of commercial vehicles grew 17.36 percent to 53,835 units in April. The industry registered an overall 10.91 percent growth to 21,18,240 vehicles, including passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, three-wheelers, two-wheelers and quadricycle in April 2016, as against 19,09,842 units in April 2015.