India's June passenger vehicle sales climb on new launches

Indian automakers posted a rise in passenger vehicle (PV) sales in June, aided by demand for new models, while premium two-wheeler makers saw sales growth on steady urban demand.

Auto sales numbers are keenly watched as they are a key indicator for assessing private consumption, which has more than 50 per cent weightage in calculating the country's economic growth.

The country's top carmaker by volume Maruti Suzuki India's overall domestic PV sales rose 8.5 per cent year-on-year to 133,027 units.

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"Dealers indicated that demand is mainly driven by new models, while older models and the entry segment continue to remain laggards," Antique Stock Broking said in a note.

The demand for utility vehicles (UV) remained strong, with Mahindra and Mahindra, the country's top sports utility vehicle maker (SUV) by market share, reporting a 22 per cent rise in SUV sales, while Maruti Suzuki's UV sales in June more than doubled from a year ago.

Sales of PVs were also aided by improvement in supply chain issues, analysts said, but they warned that constraints have not completely resolved. "Supply situation has not fully recovered, and there is still a waiting period of about 2 months for most SUV models," analysts at Motilal Oswal said in a note.

Eicher Motors posted a near-26 per cent rise in sales of Royal Enfield two-wheelers, while Bajaj Auto's domestic two-wheeler sales rose 33 per cent, led by urban demand and easing supply chain constraints.

However, Hero MotoCorp, which caters to a large rural population, posted a near-9 per cent drop in domestic sales amidst a slower recovery in rural markets and high base effect due to early festive season last year, analysts said.

The commercial vehicles segment also saw an uptick in sales, with industry leaders Ashok Leyland and Eicher Motors posting 5 per cent and 6.5 per cent rise respectively.