Specifically, according to preliminary data, new car sales in India last year reached at least 4.25 million units, more than 4.2 million units sold in Japan.
According to data from the Association of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, from January to November 2022, new cars delivered in India reached 4.13 million units. In addition to the December sales given in the report of Maruti Suzuki – the country’s largest car manufacturer, total sales for the whole year are estimated to total nearly 4.25 million units.
Auto sales in India are likely to be even higher when accounting for pending fourth-quarter sales figures for commercial vehicles, along with year-end results from Tata Motors and other automakers. Others have yet to be announced.
Tata Motors, India’s largest car company, has a wide range of low-cost cars for the domestic market.
In 2021, China continues to be the world’s largest auto market with sales of 26.27 million units. The US ranked second with 15.4 million units, followed by Japan with 4.44 million units.
In recent years, the Indian auto market has witnessed great volatility. In 2018, this market achieved sales of 4.4 million units. However, this fell below 4 million units in 2019, mainly due to the credit crunch affecting the non-banking sector that year.
As the Covid pandemic crippled economic activity across India in 2020, auto sales fell even further, to less than 3 million units. This number recovers in 2021, reaching 4 million units. However, the shortage of automotive chips has significantly affected the sales growth of this industry.
Gasoline cars, including hybrids, will account for the majority of new car sales in India in 2022. Electric vehicles are barely present. Cars marketed in India are said to have fewer chips than cars sold in developed economies.
The crisis of shortage of automotive chips is partially resolved in 2022, helping to restore sales of this market. Carmakers such as Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and other Indian automakers all recorded sales growth last year.
India has a population of 1.4 billion and is forecast to overtake China as the world’s most populous country this year. The population of this country is forecast to continue to increase until the early 2060s. Along with the increase in population, people’s income will increase.
According to British research firm Euromonitor, only 8.5% of Indian households will own a car in 2021. This shows that there is still a lot of room for the auto industry to grow sales. The Indian government has started to introduce more subsidies for electric vehicles amid the trade deficit caused by increased petroleum imports.
Meanwhile, in Japan, new car sales in 2022 reached 4.201 million units, down 5.6% compared to 2021 – according to data from the Japan Automobile Dealers Association and the Association of Motorcycles and Motorcycles light Japanese.
The Covid-19 pandemic and blockades in China caused car production to drop significantly, leaving automakers unable to meet demand. Car sales in Japan peaked in 1990 with 7.77 million units. That means sales are now down by almost half from their peak. Along with that, the declining population is casting a dark shadow on the prospect of a sales recovery of this industry in Japan in the near future.
In 2006, China overtook Japan to become the world’s second largest auto market. By 2009, China overtook the US to hold the number one position in the world.
According to Nikkei Asia
Source: Vietnam Insider