SIAM reclassifies segments for reporting sales data

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has come up with a revised format in accordance with which sales data of automobile manufacturers will be reported from this month.

Senior director Sugato Sen said, “The existing format was put in place in 2002. Since then, the automobile industry has undergone a major transformation. There are more cars available on Wednesday, due to which we felt the need to increase segmentation and provide more detailed data.”

The passenger vehicle (PV) segment would now have nine categories with cars being reclassified according to their length, price and engine capacity. Earlier, the segment had models classified under six sub-segments. The new category — the micro — sub-segment has Tata Nano as the sole contender. The two additional sub-segments are the super compact category which would include cars with length between 4,000 mm and 4,250 mm and the coupe, which would cover 2-4 door roadsters with firm or retractable roofs.

Utility vehicles (UVs), which were earlier classified into two sub-segments on the basis of the number of seats and mass, have now been re-grouped into five sub-segments depending on the length and price. The first three segments — UV1, UV2 and UV3 — would have products priced up to Rs 15 lakh. While the UV4 sub-segment would group products tagged between Rs 15 and Rs 25 lakh, UV5 would report sales of products priced above Rs 25 lakh.

Multi-purpose vehicles would now be classified into two groups — V1 vans with hard tops used for personal transport and V2, which would include vans with soft tops used as maxi cabs.

The medium and heavy commercial vehicles would continue to have three and five sub-segments for carriers used for passenger transportation and goods transportation purposes, respectively. No changes have been made in the manner in which sales data for two-wheelers and three-wheelers is reported.

Sen said passenger vehicles such as the Tata Winger, which were earlier categorised in the PV segment, would now be considered in the light commercial vehicle (LCV, passenger) one. “This would be the re-arrangement as far as volumes are concerned. We would be re-adjusting the data for last year to make figures comparable.”

LCV used for passenger transportation would have two sub-segments while those used for carrying goods would have four sub-segments.

Sen said the industry body has held discussions with members and they would release model-wise sales numbers, possibly from this month onwards. The data would be disclosed a week after the monthly report is released by SIAM.