Passenger vehicle sales in India increased by 11.14 per cent to 2,76,554 units last month, as pent-up demand, steady preference of personal vehicle drive up the wholesale volumes, the auto industry body SIAM said on Thursday.

As per the data, passenger vehicle sales in January 2020 stood at 2,48,840 units.

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Reports suggested that the growth on passenger vehicle sales would have been higher at 16 per cent if were to include numbers of Tata Motors. The automaker has stopped reporting its monthly data to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

The industry body’s data showed that two-wheeler dispatches to dealers also rose 6.63 per cent to 14,29,928 units, compared to 13,41,005 units in January 2020.

Sales on motorcycle and scooter were also up by 5.1 per cent and 9.06 per cent respectively.

Motorcycle sales increased to 9,16,365 units as against 8,71,886 in January 2020. Similarly, scooter sales were also up at 4,54,315 units from 4,16,567 units a year ago.

On the other hand, demand for the three-wheeler plunged by 56.76 per cent to 26,335 units as compared with Rs 60,903 units in January last year.

Vehicle sales across categories rose by 4.97 per cent to 17,32,817 units last month as against 16,50,812 units in the year ago period.

Commenting on the sales data, SIAM Director General Rajesh Menon said, “In January 2.77 lakh passenger vehicles were sold, clocking a CAGR growth of just 1.61 per cent over the previous highest sales in January 2018 of 2.64 lakh units.”

He also noted that the “supply chain challenges including rising price of steel, unavailability of semiconductors and higher container charges, continue to be obstacles in smooth functioning of the industry.”