Passenger vehicles remain flat in Dec as entry-level segment remains a drag

In passenger vehicles, despite a strong growth of 15 per cent YoY for UVs, overall PVs remained flat in December YoY due to sluggishness in the entry level segment, says a report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Commercial vehicles volumes grew 6 per cent YoY, led by 11.5 per cent YoY growth in MHCVs. Tractors declined 18 per cent YoY.

“We believe 2W demand should continue to grow in the coming months. CV demand growth is expected to moderate in 4Q due to the high base effect. Tractor wholesales remained weak, but we are seeing greenshoots in retail growth as we highlighted in our channel check note,” the report said.

The report said that it believes that the UVs will continue to see sustained growth, while entry-level PVs will see a decline, denting overall PV growth.

“We believe 2W domestic wholesales will continue to grow, aided by the ongoing marriage season and a gradual recovery in rural markets,” the report said.

Auto stocks index is among the top losers with Eicher Motors down more than 3 per cent, Ashok Leyland down more than 3 per cent, M&M down more than 2 per cent, TVS Motors down more than 2 per cent.