Passenger vehicles sales fell by 41 per cent to 160,070 units from 272,027 units a year ago in September due to high commodity prices and semiconductor crunch, industry body SIAM said on Thursday.

According to the latest data by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), two-wheeler dispatches to dealers also witnessed a dip of 17 per cent at 15,28,472 units, compared with 18,49,546 in September 2020.

Motorcycle dispatches declined 22 per cent last month to 9,48,161 units against 12,24,117 in the year-ago period. Scooter sales were also down 7 per cent at 5,17,239 units from 5,56,205 units a year ago.

Vehicle sales across categories last month declined year-on-year by 20 per cent to 17,17,728 units from 21,40,549 units. Last month, the total production of passenger vehicles, three-wheelers, two-wheelers and quadricycles stood at 21,25,304 units, a drop of 19 per cent compared with September 2020.

Kenichi Ayukawa, president, SIAM said, “Indian automobile industry continues to face new challenges. While on one hand, we are seeing a revival in vehicle demand, on the other hand, shortage of semiconductor chips is causing a major concern for the industry. Many members have curtailed their production plans.”

“Coupled with the festive season demand, this has led to long waiting time for the customers on popular models of some segments. High raw material prices also continue to be a challenge,” he added.

“Industry is taking all possible measures to mitigate the impact of such supply chain issues and optimise production,” he added.

Rajesh Menon, director General, SIAM, said: “Owing to the semiconductor shortage, in September 2021 there was a drop in production of about (-) 37.46 per cent for Passenger Vehicles and (-) 17.15 per cent for Two-Wheelers.

On the sales front, barring the Covid period, H1 sales of passenger vehicles are still below 2016-17 levels, that of two-wheelers are below 2011-12 levels, that of commercial vehicles are below 2010-11 levels and that of three-wheelers are still below 2000-01 levels.”

In the July-September quarter, passenger vehicle wholesale, however, witnessed a marginal increase of 2 per cent to 7,41,300 units as compared with 7,26,232 units in the same period of last fiscal. Two wheeler dispatches during the September quarter stood at 41,13,915 units, down 12 per cent from 46,90,565 units in Q2 of 2020-21 financial year.