SUV allure lifts passenger vehicle sales past 4 million in 2023

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₹11.5 lakh in 2023, 40% more than ₹8.2 lakh in 2019, and 9.5% higher than ₹10.5 lakh in 2022. Apart from higher production costs due to costlier inputs and mandatory safety tech, a higher share of costlier SUVs and customer preference for top models have also been driving up average purchase prices in 2023. A total of 287,904 passenger vehicles were dispatched from factories to dealerships in December, Srivastava said, the highest ever for the month, crossing the previous record of 276,000 units in December 2020.

This was also a 4.4% growth over last year’s dispatches of 275,680 units. At Maruti Suzuki, December dispatches fell 6.5% to 104,778 units from a year earlier, while Tata Motors’ dispatches rose 8.6% to 43,470, and Mahindra & Mahindra’s increased 23.7% to 35,174 . Some manufacturers including Toyota and Kia are yet to release their December numbers.

Retail sales were higher than wholesales in December, as manufacturers tried to clear out stocks after three festive months ending November, by slashing production and offering hefty discounts on models with high inventories. Citing data on the government’s Vahan website, Jay Kale, senior vice-president at Elara Capital, said December retail sales grew at a slower pace than the 7% growth seen in FY24 so far. “We are seeing some moderation in PV growth.

The real situation of pending order books reported by companies is getting tested as capacities ramp up post chip shortage at the start of the year. While the SUV segment continues to outperform, the recovery in the cars segment on a low base will be keenly watched," Kale said. Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor India said their stocks are near two-week levels at the beginning of 2024, down to half of the levels seen at