Passenger vehicle dispatches rise 11 pc in July as chip situation improves

New Delhi: The passenger vehicle dispatches to dealers increased by 11 per cent in July as improvement in semiconductor supplies helped the companies to ramp up production ahead of the festive season, auto dealers' body SIAM said on Friday.

Overall passenger vehicle wholesales increased to 2,93,865 units last month compared to 2,64,442 units in July 2021.

Passenger car dispatches rose 10 per cent to 1,43,522 units in July from 1,30,080 units in the year-ago period.

Utility vehicle wholesales grew 11 per cent to 1,37,104 units last month from 1,24,057 units in the same period last year.

Van dispatches also increased to 13,239 units from 10,305 units in July 2021.

The total two-wheeler dispatches rose 10 per cent to 13,81,303 units from 12,60,140 units.

Scooter wholesales climbed to 4,79,159 units against 3,73,695 units.

Similarly, motorcycle wholesales increased to 8,70,028 units in July compared to 8,37,166 units a year ago.

Three-wheeler dispatches to dealers also increased to 31,324 units from 18,132 units a year earlier.

Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) Director General Rajesh Menon noted that the market for entry-level passenger cars, two-wheelers and three-wheelers is yet to recover.

"Sales of two-wheelers in July 2022 are still below July 2016 numbers and sales of three-wheelers are still below the July 2006 numbers. The third hike in a repo rate in a row, to rein in high inflation, will make auto loans costlier, making it more difficult for entry-level vehicles to recover," he added.

Menon also said the improvement in passenger vehicle dispatches last month has been due to improvement in supply chain.

He lauded the government for the recent decision to allocate a higher amount of domestic gas for the CNG segment.

"This would significantly bring down the input cost of gas companies. We hope that in line with the Government's intent, the gas companies would pass on the entire benefit to the end consumers by reducing retail CNG prices," he noted.