Passenger car sales up 3.70% in February: SIAM

Sales of domestic passenger cars inched up by 3.70 per cent in February, an industry data showed on Monday.

Data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed that 179,122 passenger cars were sold in February as compared to 172,737 in the corresponding month of 2017.

The off-take of other sub-segments of passenger vehicle category such as utility vehicles rose by 21.82 per cent during the month to 80,254 units, whereas sales of vans declined by 5.36 per cent to 15,953 units.

The SIAM data revealed the overall domestic passenger vehicle sales edged higher by 7.77 per cent in February to 275,329 units from 255,470 units sold during the corresponding period in 2017.

According to the data, the sales of overall commercial vehicles -- the segment which is a key indicator of economic activity -- increased by 31.13 per cent to 87,777 units during the month under review.

In another major segment -- three-wheelers, sales surged by 76.67 per cent to 62,463 units in February.

In addition, overall sales of two-wheelers, which include scooters, motorcycles and mopeds, climbed 23.77 per cent to 1,685,814 units.

The data disclosed that the Indian automobile sector reported an increase of 22.77 per cent during February 2018 -- with total sales at 2,111,383 units across segments and categories.

Moreover, the overall exports across categories grew by 26.04 per cent to 358,001 units last month.

--IANS

ppg/pgh/dg