Riding on festive demand, passenger vehicle sales soar to record high in October

New Delhi Passenger vehicle wholesales in India rose to a record high in October as companies pushed dispatches to dealers to cater to the enhanced demand in the festive season.

The overall passenger vehicle wholesales in October rose to 3,91,472 units, up 16 per cent from 3,36,679 units in the same month last year. Last month witnessed the highest-ever dispatches of passenger vehicles in the domestic market by Maruti Suzuki India and Mahindra & Mahindra. “It is not only the highest October in terms of sales, but also the highest ever month which we have seen in the Indian passenger vehicle industry in any year in any month,” Maruti Suzuki India Senior Executive Officer (Marketing and Sales) Shashank Srivastava told reporters in a call. He noted that the fading away of semiconductor shortage issues has helped the industry ramp up production and cater to enhanced demand in the market. Besides, brisk business during the peak festival period of Navratra also helped in the volume growth last month, Srivastava said. He noted that the share of sports utility vehicles in the overall passenger vehicle sales continues to grow and currently stands at 50.7 per cent. “This makes this year quite good so far, because every month has been the highest ever that month. In fact, if you include January, February and March also or even the entire calendar year also, every month has been the highest ever. That is a very positive sign for the industry,” Srivastava said. He however noted that the inventory level remains quite high at the dealer level and it would depend upon the retail sales in the first 15 days of this month as how the wholesales would shape up going ahead.