According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, new vehicle delivered in India totaled 4.13 million between January and November 2022. Adding December's sales volume reported on Sunday by Maruti Suzuki, India's largest carmaker, brings the total to roughly 4.25 million units, as per ANI reports.
It is expected that India's sales volume will further rise with the inclusion of pending fourth-quarter sales figures for commercial vehicles, along with year-end results yet to be released by Tata Motors and other automakers.
China continued to lead the global auto market in 2021 with 26.27 million vehicles sold. The US remained second at 15.4 million vehicles, followed by Japan at 4.44 million units.
In 2018, around 4.4 million vehicles were sold in India, but the volume dipped below 4 million in 2019, due primarily to the credit crunch that hit the nonbank sector that year. It further plummeted below 3-million mark in 2020 due to Covid-associated lockdown.
However, sales recovered in 2021 to approached 4 million units, but the shortage of automotive chips weighed on growth, ANI reported.
Vehicles powered by gasoline, including hybrid vehicles, accounted for most of the new autos sold in India last year, Nikkei Asia said, adding that electric vehicles hardly have a presence. Autos for the Indian market are seen having fewer semiconductors than those sold in advanced economies.
Nikkei Asia stated that the easing of the automotive chip crunch in 2022 provided a springboard for a recovery. Along with Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and other Indian automakers saw sales grow during last year.
India is now home to 1.4 billion people, and its population is expected to outstrip China sometime this year and continue growing until the early 2060s. Incomes are rising as well.