Mumbai, Feb 2 (PTI) The domestic two-wheeler sales witnessed a 21 per cent year-on-year decline in January, even as the segment registered a 14 per cent sequential growth in domestic wholesale volumes, while the passenger vehicle wholesale volumes declined marginally by 3 per cent Y-o-Y, credit ratings agency ICRA said on Wednesday.
The two-wheeler sales numbers are based on the data released by six major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), ICRA said in a statement.
In January 2022, domestic wholesale PV volumes at 2.95 Lakh units represented around 16 per cent growth on a sequential basis and only a marginal decline of 3 per cent on Y-o-Y basis, said Rohan Kanwar Gupta, Vice President and Sector Head – Corporate Ratings, ICRA Limited.
The lower production levels over the months have led to unusually high waiting periods for many high-selling models, with waiting periods for select models being as high as 6-8 months, he said. The low year-on-year two-wheeler sales volume in January, highlights the adverse impact of price hikes, fuel inflation, and Omicron-related concerns on consumer sentiments, Gupta stated.
Noting that the supply chain issues in production of premium motorcycles also persisted, he said, the reinstatement of localised restrictions, to contain the third wave of pandemic, constrained retail sales and led to an 11 per cent sequential (14 per cent year-on-year) fall in volumes, to 10.2 lakh units.
Nonetheless, the industry is cautiously optimistic about recovery in coming months, with easing supply chain constraints and spillover impact from positive announcements on infrastructure spends and agri-initiatives in the Union Budget, Gupta stated.
In contrast to the domestic sales environment, steady demand from African and Latin America (LATAM) regions continued to be the silver lining for the industry, with exports clocking steady volumes of over 3.5 lakh units in January 2022, registering a 3 per cent sequential growth, according to ICRA.
Gupta also noted that the domestic electric two-wheeler sales continued to have a dream-run in the April-January period of FY2022, posting a 5 times year-on-year growth at 1.49 lakh unit sales.
In January 2022, the high-speed e-two-wheelers saw an 11 per cent month-on-month growth with 27,563 unit sales (highest monthly sales this year), Gupta said.
The proposed formulation of a battery swapping policy and interoperability standards, announced in the budget 2022-23, could be game-changers for faster EV adoption in the medium-term, Gupta added.
“The wholesale dispatches of passenger vehicles have remained curtailed over the past few months, on account of semiconductor chip shortages. This shortage had peaked in September 2021 led by disruption in supplies from certain geographies, but has been improving gradually on a sequential basis since then,” he said.
Notwithstanding the strong demand, the low inventory levels across dealerships have constrained retail sales to an extent; in January 2022, retail sales at 3.04 lakh units represented a around 2 per cent growth on a sequential basis and a decline of around 10 per cent on YoY basis, ICRA said.
Even as the production levels of OEMs are expected to remain impacted to an extent by a continuation of chip supply shortage for a major part of the current year, OEMs remain confident about a relatively stable production trend over the near to medium term, assuming no extended or major lockdowns due to spike in infections, Gupta said. PTI IAS RUJ RUJ
