Sales of cars and utility vehicles are expected to remain strong for 4th straight month in July

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Sales of cars and utility vehicles are expected to remain strong for the fourth straight month in July, amid improved supplies and sustained demand in the local market. Around 345,000-346,000 vehicles are expected to be sold in the domestic market by the close of this month, compared with 342,000 units a year earlier. This would be the highest July sales on record in the Indian market.

The highest monthly passenger vehicle sales were 355,000 units, recorded in September 2022. Senior industry executives ET spoke with are optimistic about the growth prospects. A slew of new launches in the fast-growing SUV segment from Maruti Suzuki to Hyundai and Honda, coupled with increasing demand in rural markets, is expected to support the sales momentum as the country heads into the festive season and help the industry top the 4-million mark for the first time in a fiscal year.

The festive season will commence with Onam in Kerala towards the end of August. “There have been a lot of new launches over the past couple of weeks which helped excite and sustain demand in the market,” said Shashank Srivastava, senior executive officer (marketing and sales) at market leader Maruti Suzuki. “Rural demand is looking reasonably good.

Though the growth rate now on will be lower, on a high base of last year, the industry should be able to cross the 4-million-mark in sales in the full year.” Even though pent-up demand is no longer there, carmakers are seeing healthy traction in the market, said Tarun Garg, chief operating officer at Korean auto major Hyundai. “New customers are coming in. The semiconductor shortage is more or less behind us.