Festive season powers car wholesales by 29% in October. What it means

Car manufacturers had much to cheer about this festive season and a confirmation of this came on Friday with data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) highlighting a 29 per cent jump in wholesales in the month of October.

SIAM data particularly highlighted the positive trend among passenger vehicle manufacturers with dispatches to dealers standing at a little over 2.91 lakh units, up from around 2.26 lakh units in October of 2021. Pent-up demand from previous months when the issue of semiconductor issue had posed a big challenge may be one of several factors powering the performance of PVs last month. But there have also been other factors at play. ""Good market sentiments coupled with festive boost, resulted in higher sales in October, especially for passenger vehicles," SIAM President Vinod Aggarwal said.

There was some degree of cheer for two-wheeler manufacturers as well, albeit smaller. Dispatches of scooters and motorcycles last month rose to 15.77 lakh units, an increase of around two per cent from October 2021 figures. Aggarwal noted that higher inflation and rising interest rates may have restrained what could have been a higher number still. And this is a real and persisting concern with SIAM Director General Rajesh Menon highlighting how while PV sales between April and October were mighty impressive, two-wheeler sales in the same period is still lower than what it was in this period of 2016.

Combined with figures from three-wheelers, the overall dispatches - PVs, two and three wheelers - stood at 19.23 lakh which is a rise of around six per cent from October 2021 figures.