Passenger vehicle wholesales declined nearly 4 per cent to 279,501 units last month, auto industry association SIAM said on Wednesday.

The sector faces the challenge of semiconductor availability and supply side constraints and the industry is yet to see a complete recovery following the disruptions it has been facing since early 2020.

Passenger vehicle dispatches from factories to dealerships in March 2021 stood at 2,90,939 units.

SIAM president Kenichi Ayukawa noted that the year gone by was full of unforeseen challenges and new learning for the industry.

“Indian auto industry has worked hard against these challenges to keep the value chain running, to indigenise parts, control cost, invest in new technologies, and enhance exports. The government also came out with targeted support like PLI schemes, FAME scheme extension,” he stated.

Elaborating on the sales performance, he said that despite some recovery from a low base, sales in all four

segments of the auto industry are below even the 2018-19 level.

“While some segments like commercial vehicles and SUVs are seeing improvement in demand, the mass segments like two-wheelers and smaller cars are facing serious affordability issues. Of course, our immediate challenge in most segments is semiconductor availability,” Ayukawa said.

As per the latest data by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), two-wheeler sales also fell 21 per cent to 11,84,210 units as compared with 14,96,806 vehicles in March 2021.

Motorcycle sales declined 21 per cent to 7,86,479 units as against 9,93,996 units in March 2021. Scooter sales were also down 21 per cent to 3,60,082 units from 4,58,122 vehicles a year ago.

In the 2021-22 fiscal, total PV wholesales rose by 13 per cent to 30,69,499 units from 27,11,457 units in 2020-21. However, total two-wheeler dispatches declined by 11 per cent to 1,34,66,412 units in the last fiscal as compared with 1,51,20,783 units in 2020-21. Three-wheeler sales rose to 2,60,995 units last fiscal from 2,19,446 units in FY21. Similarly, total commercial vehicle wholesales also increased to 7,16,566 units last fiscal as compared with 5,68,559 units in 2020-21.

Total sales across categories, however, declined to 1,75,13,596 units in 2021-22 as against 1,86,20,233 units in 2020-21.

Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM said “overall Industry witnessed a de-growth of (-) 6% in FY22. All segments are facing supply side challenges and the industry is yet to see complete recovery following the disruptions it has been facing since early 2020. Passenger Vehicles, Commercial Vehicles and Three-wheelers have witnessed a growth compared to a low base of the industry in 2020-21, but the Two-Wheeler segments further declined by (-) 11% from the previous year.”