Passenger vehicle wholesales jump over two-fold to 251,052 units in May

Passenger vehicle dispatches to dealers in India rose over two-fold last month on a low base of Covid-19-hit May last year.

As per the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), passenger vehicle wholesales rose to 2,51,052 units last month as compared to 88,045 units in May 2021.

The two-wheeler sales rose to 12,53,187 units in May as compared to 354,824 units in the year-ago period.

Similarly, total three-wheeler dispatches stood at 28,542 units last month as against 1,262 units in May 2021.

Overall sales of PVs, two-wheelers and three-wheelers rose to 15,32,809 units in May.

The same stood at 444,131 units in the preceding year.

"Sales of two-wheelers and three-wheelers continue to remain sluggish in the month of May 2022, as they are even below of what it was 9 years and 14 years ago, respectively," SIAM director general Rajesh Menon said.

Similarly, sales of passenger vehicle segment are also still below 2018 level, he added.

"Recent Government interventions would help in easing of the supply side challenges, but second hike in repo-rates by RBI and increase in third party insurance rates, could become more challenging for the customers, thereby impacting demand," Menon noted.

The total production of passenger vehicles (excluding BMW, Mercedes, Tata Motors and Volvo Auto) three-wheelers, two-wheelers, and quadricycle in May 2022 were at 19,65,541 units.

It stood at 8,08,755 units in the month under review a year ago which saw massive disruptions in the country due to second wave of the COVID pandemic.