Passenger vehicle dispatches from factories to showrooms last month at 329,000 units was the highest ever for the month of August and third highest for any month yet, industry insiders said. This was a third consecutive month of dispatches in excess of 300,000 units. New models launched by the likes of
, Mahindra & Mahindra, and fuelled August dispatches, which increased 24% year on year.
Compact car despatches drove Suzuki sales higher by 30%, whereas higher SUV despatches on improved supplies helped Tata Motors, M&M and Kia to register a strong double-digit growth.
Shashank Srivastava, senior executive director, sales and marketing, at Maruti, said demand continues to remain strong and the festive season has started off on a good note with bookings ahead of Onam next week growing by 10-15%.
“For the first time ever, the industry has sold close to a million units cumulatively in three months (992,000),” he said. “The demand trend seems to be strong, and the festive spirit will also drive good momentum. It is up to the chip supplies, which will determine the growth going ahead.”
The industry has already dispatched about 1.58 million vehicles so far this fiscal and it is on course to post a record 3.7 million vehicles for the whole year, Srivastava said. This would mean a growth of 20% on year. Veejay Nakra, president, automotive division, at M&M said August was an exciting month with the firm launching vehicles across many segments.
“The demand across our portfolio remains strong and is enhanced with blockbuster launches of Scorpio-N, Scorpio Classic and new Bolero MaXX Pik-up,” he said. “We registered the highest ever SUV volume of 29,516 in August, registering a growth of 87% over August 2021. The supply chain situation continues to remain dynamic for select product lines.”
