MUMBAI: The Indian automobile industry grew 19 per cent to Rs10.22 lakh crore (trillion) in FY24 driven by a robust growth in the utility and sports utility vehicle (SUV) segment, a report said on Wednesday.
The volume grew by 10 per cent during the year, the report by management consulting firm Primus Partners said.
A notable shift in the UV and SUV segment was that the volume increased by 23 per cent and price by 16 per cent leading to overall value increase by 39 per cent last fiscal year.
The average price increase in this segment was due to general rise in prices, shift to higher segment, shift to hybrid and automatic, popularity of sunroof and shift to electric vehicles (EVs), it said.
Indians are preferring higher, more expensive models across segments, and the average price of vehicles is increasing, as per the report.
“India is at the forefront in leading the global automobile race, bypassing lower-priced products and creating more value in feature-rich, higher-priced vehicles. Consumer preferences and robust economic fundamentals are drivers of this transformation in the Indian automobile industry. Significantly, the UV and SUV segments are becoming a preferred choice for most Indian consumers,” said Anurag Singh, Managing Director of Primus Partners.
On the other hand, the passenger vehicle (PV) segment saw a decline of 9 per cent in volume due to a slight price increase, resulting in 4 per cent value drop.
In the two-wheeler segment, India witnessed 10 per cent increase in volume and 13 per cent in value.
The three-wheeler segment grew by 16 per cent in volume and 24 per cent in value and the commercial vehicle segment rose by 3 per cent in volume and 7 per cent in value.
The report noted that while India is at number three in terms of vehicles registered behind China and the US, in value terms it is behind countries like Japan and Germany.
Besides, the average price of a vehicle in India is lower than that of many advanced countries.
The value of the Indian Automobile industry is growing at a faster rate than volume.
Also, according to the report, India is the number one producer of two-wheelers with more than 20 million units produced last year. The two-wheeler segment dominates in volume with 76 per cent share, while value share is 18 per cent.
As per the report, 2023-24 proved to be a strong year for the global automobile industry. The lingering pent-up demand from the pandemic period remained active while many of the supply chain constraints had eased up.
