According to data available work industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), 352,921 cars, sedans and utility vehicles were dispatched from factories to dealers last month, which is a decline of 1.8% over 359,228 vehicles sold in August 2023.
Automakers in India mostly report wholesale dispatches from factories to dealerships and not retail sales to customers.
Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM said, “In August 2024, passenger vehicle segment de-grew by (-)1.8% compared to August 2023, posting a sales of about 3.53 lakh units. Three-wheelers posted a sales of 0.7 Lakh units in August 2024, a growth of 7.7% from the previous peak of August 2023. Two-wheeler segment also posted a decent growth of 9.3% in August 2024 as compared to August 2023, with sales of 17.12 Lakh units.
| Category | Aug 2023 | Aug 2024 | % Change |
| PVs | 359,228 | 352,921 | -1.8 |
| 3W | 64,944 | 69,962 | 7.7 |
| 2W | 1,566,594 | 1,711,662 | 9.3 |
Source : SIAM
Carmakers are hopeful of a revival in demand this festive season, starting with Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharashtra from September 7 and Onam in Kerala from September 16. Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer (marketing and sales), Maruti Suzuki, said, “We calibrated our dispatches with market demand to bring down stocks at dealerships. Our inventory in the channel has now come down to 36 days (from 38 days earlier). We want to maintain this level; we do not want to bring this down further because lower stocks could impact availability of vehicles and lead to loss of sales during the festive season.” Banerjee said Maruti Suzuki has seen good response in Kerala with the start of the Chingham month on August 17. “Our bookings have gone up by 7% in Kerala. Onam this year is in September, when we expect retails to pick up. Overall, our wholesale has been in line with retails in August, which is a good sign,” he said.In the two-wheeler segment too, where much of the growth has come in from demand for scooters, manufacturers expects good monsoons and buoyant consumer sentiment in the festive period to spur motorcycle sales. Yogesh Mathur, director (sales and marketing) at Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) said, “As the monsoon stabilises, we expect rural demand to pick up during the festive season this year.”
“Looking ahead, as the country enters the festive season, demand for vehicles is expected to grow”, Menon confirmed, adding, this will also be “duly augmented” by the recent announcements of PM E-DRIVE and PM-eBus Sewa Schemes of Government of India.