Passenger vehicle sales saw a robust growth in October, with midsegment cars and SUVs grabbing the festive demand which also lifted the entry-level category, but two-wheelers remained subdued reflecting the state of the economy, industry data showed on Tuesday.
Automobile makers led by Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors, along with Mahindra & Mahindra, Kia India and Honda Cars India on Tuesday reported strong sales of passenger vehicles in the domestic market riding on strong festive season demand.
However, in the two-wheeler segment, most of the manufacturers such as Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, and TVS Motor reported subdued sales during the festive season, which normally leads to high takeoff of motorcycles and scooters.
Market leader Maruti Suzuki India reported a 26 per cent rise in its domestic sales at 1,47,072 units last month as against 1,17,013 units in the year-ago period.
The company’s sales of mini segment cars, comprising Alto and S-Presso, grew to 24,936 units as against 21,831 units in October 2021. Sales of compact cars, including Baleno, Celerio, Dzire, Ignis, Swift, Tour S and WagonR, rose to 73,685 units last month as compared to 48,690 units in the year-ago month.
Maruti Suzuki India Senior Executive Officer (Marketing & Sales) Shashank Srivastava said the SUVs continued to lead the sales charts last month while the sales of entry level models also witnessed enhanced offtake as compared with past few months.
Alto, WagonR, Swift and Baleno were the leading models last month with seven models from the auto major making it to the top ten selling list, he said.
Srivastava noted that the passenger vehicle wholesales last month were the third highest ever behind just July and September dispatches this year.
“The passenger vehicle industry in the April-October stood at 22.74 lakh units as compared with 16.48 lakh units last year, a growth of 38 per cent. It is expected this year we should see a figure of 38 lakh units for the industry. For MSI, we are expecting a similar number as last year which was the highest,” he stated.
Srivastava said the company had close to 3.9 lakh pending bookings while the industry figure stood at around 8 lakh units.
With strong response for both the new Brezza and Grand Vitara, the company’s overall market share in the SUV segment has grown to around 14 per cent in October from around 9.5 per cent last year, he added.
Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) reported a 29.6 per cent jump in its domestic PV sales at 48,001 last month as compared to 37,021 units in October 2021.
HMIL Director (Sales, Marketing & Service) Tarun Garg said with the ever improving semiconductor situation, the company was able to meet the demand of its customers and deliver cars during the festive season in October.
Home-grown auto major Tata Motors said its PV sales, including electric vehicles, in the domestic market were at 45,423 units as compared to 34,155 units in the same month last year, up 33 per cent.
Similarly, M&M reported a 60 per cent rise in domestic passenger vehicle sales at 32,298 units in October 2022 as against 20,130 units sold in the same month last year.
“Our sales volume continued to grow in October on the back of strong festive demand,” M&M President, Automotive Division, Veejay Nakra said.
Kia India reported a 43 per cent rise at 23,323 units in October as compared to 16,331 units dispatched to dealers in the same month last year.
Having already crossed the 2-lakh sales mark in calendar year 2022, Kia India Vice President and Head of Sales & Marketing, Hardeep Singh Brar said,”…with two months still remaining, we are confident of ending the year on an unprecedented high”.
Likewise, Honda Cars India also reported an 18 per cent increase in domestic wholesales at 9,543 units in October. The company had dispatched 8,108 units in the domestic market in October last year.
Skoda Auto India also said its wholesales increased 11 per cent to 3,389 units last month as compared with 3,065 units in October last year.
In the two-wheeler category, Hero MotoCorp on Tuesday reported a 17 per cent dip in its total sales at 4,54,582 units last month as compared with 5,47,970 units in October 2021.
In the domestic market the company’s dispatches to dealers stood at 4,42,825 units, down 16 per cent from 5,27,779 units in the year-ago period.
Bajaj Auto reported a 10 per cent decline in total sales at 3,95,238 units in October. TVS Motor Company registered a growth of 2 per cent with sales increasing from 3,55,033 units in October last year to 3,60,288 units in October 2022.
Similarly, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India’s total dispatches stood at 4,49,391 units as compared with 4,32,229 units in October last year.
Suzuki Motorcycle India reported a 27 per cent rise in total sales at 87,859 units in October 2022.
