Automotive sales in India in 2022 increased 12% to 20.8 million units, according to data compiled by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. Although the total remained shy of sales in pre-pandemic 2019, passenger car sales for 2022 set a new record.
The total for calendar year 2022 was up from 18.5 million in 2021, according to a society news release in January. The organization, known as Siam, represents all major vehicle and vehicular engine manufacturers in India. Domestic automotive sales – including passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, three-wheelers and two-wheelers – have still not quite rebounded to the last full pre-pandemic year of 2019, when total sales reached 23.1 million.
The festive season in India, which goes from mid-September until mid-November, helped in returning good sales numbers for all vehicle segments in the last calendar quarter of 2022, Siam Director General Rajesh Menon said. “However, weakness in rural demand continues, as high food inflation and increased financing cost is impacting the rural market,” he noted.
Passenger car sales climbed 23% to 3.8 million units last year, compared to 3.1 million in 2021. The 3.8 million was the highest ever sales reported for the category, Siam President Vinod Aggarwal said, and it was about 400,000 units higher than the last peak in 2018.
Although two-wheelers remained the leading segment in sales, they posted the smallest increase at 8%, rising to 15.6 million units, compared to 14.5 million. Two-wheelers grew at a much slower pace in 2022, compared to other categories of vehicles, Aggarwal noted.
The smallest segment, three-wheelers, experienced the largest jump at 59%, increasing from 263,373 to 418,341 units in 2022.
Sales of commercial vehicles rose 38% to 933,116 units, from 677,119. That’s about 72,000 units lower than the category’s earlier peak in 2018, Aggarwal said.
India’s total automobile production reached 25.9 million units in 2022, up 7% from 24.1 million in 2021. In 2019, production amounted to 27.8 million units.