Last month’s automobile sales data, released Friday morning, has a serious portend not just for the auto industry, but for the government and Indian economy as well. Plummeting two-wheeler sales clearly indicate that all is not well with the nation’s hinterland, two years after the Covid-19 onslaught began.
Total two-wheeler sales in January, compared with that of last year, fell from 14 lakh vehicles all the way down to 11 lakh vehicles. Quite a drop for the world’s largest two-wheeler market.
“There is clearly a demand issue for two-wheelers due to lower rural off-take of entry level models,” said Rajesh Menon, director general of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), which collated and released the data.
Lesser rural sales clearly indicate that the rural economy is not in good health. And considering that the monsoon has been relatively okay, this could only mean financial and job distresses as an offshoot of the pandemic.
All the three subcategories of two-wheelers showed a drop. While the biggest, motorcycles, dropped from 9.16 lakh to 7.43 lakh — a decline of about 2.3 lakh bikes, for scooters the drop was nearly one lakh. The much smaller moped sub-segment fell by about 24,000 units, but by percentage points this comes to about a very worrying 40 per cent.
Except for SUVs, almost all categories of automobiles showed a decline, continuing on the decline the industry has been witnessing since the economic slowdown witnessed since 2018. Total automobile domestic sales in January this year was just 14 lakh — down from 17.3 lakh in January last year.
While Omicron spurt and the shortage of semi-conductors can be mentioned as the possible drop in sales, the lack of pick-up in demand in villages and small towns indicates the very real possibility that post-pandemic recovery has been anything but uneven.
