Auto sales in January saw a significant 22% month-on-month (MoM) decline, dropping to 10.1k units from December’s two-year high of 13k, according to data from the Automotive Marketing Information Council (AMIC).

This decrease marks the end of a four-month recovery in vehicle sales that began in October 2024, following a brief two-month slump after a period of growth from April to July.

Passenger car sales were the primary contributor to the overall drop, plummeting by 28.4% MoM to 7.6k units. Bus sales also experienced a sharp decline, falling 26.7% MoM to 698 units. In contrast, truck sales were the only segment to see a rise, increasing 29.2% to 1.8k units.

Despite the monthly downturn, auto sales in January showed strong year-on-year (YoY) growth.

Total sales rose by 61.4% compared to January of the previous year, with all segments experiencing positive growth. Passenger car sales were up 58.2% YoY, bus sales rose by 33.7%, and truck sales surged 93.2% YoY.

The year 2024 had seen a rebound in the auto industry, with sales growing by 13.2% YoY, totaling approximately 102.2k vehicles. This growth came after a challenging period marked by an FX crunch that strained supply and allowed distributors to raise prices.

However, the AMIC figures only represent data from member distributors, so they may not fully capture the entire market landscape.