‘Buoyant Bharat’ boosts PV, 2-wheeler sales in February

February 2024 witnessed passenger vehicles and two-wheelers stay in the positive growth lane, while commercial vehicles and tractors reported a decline in volumes.

In the passenger vehicle (PV) segment, most of the players such as Maruti, Hyundai, Tata, Mahindra, Toyota and Honda, among others, saw their wholesale numbers grow on the back robust demand for their new models.

• Also read: January auto sales: Passenger vehicles, three-wheelers continue to top sales in FY24

PV market leader Maruti reported a 9 per cent increase in its total domestic sales at 160,271 units in February 2024 compared with 147,467 units in February 2023. SUVs (including all types of UVs) continue to record higher growth and Maruti’s total SUV sales stood at 61,234 units (33,550 units), while car volumes declined to 86,890 units (102,565 units).

“For the industry, rural growth was higher at about 12 per cent as against the urban growth of 8 per cent,” said Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, said.

Hyundai has reported 7 per cent growth in domestic sales at 50,201 units in February 2024. “For the first time, Hyundai’s rural penetration reached 20 per cent last month. Our rural growth was 13 per cent, while urban sales grew 8 per cent. Now, two-thirds (67 per cent) of volumes come from SUVs,” said Tarun Garg, COO, Hyundai Motor India Ltd.

Hyundai’s flagship SUV Creta achieved the highest monthly volume of 15,276 units in February. With the upcoming new variant Creta N-Line, the company seeks to sustain a monthly volume in the range of 15,000-16,000 units. It carries overall bookings of 97,000 units and the Creta brand accounts for about 50 per cent.

Tata Motors’ total domestic PV sales grew by 20 per cent at 51,267 units in February 2024, driven by the growth of its SUVs such as Punch, Nexon, Harrier and Safari.

Mahindra & Mahindra, a leading manufacturer of SUVs, reported a whopping 40 per cent rise in its SUV sales at 42,201 units (30,221 units). Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported its highest-ever monthly wholesale of 25,220 units in February 2024, an increase of 61 per cent. Honda Cars India Ltd saw its February 2024 sales grow 17 per cent at 7,142 units.

Two-wheelers

With improving rural sentiments, top two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp sold 445,257 units of bikes and scooters in February 2024 — an increase of 16 per cent over 382,317 units sold in February 2023.

TVS Motor’s domestic two-wheeler grew 21 per cent at 267,502 units ( 221,402 units). Bajaj Auto Ltd has reported a 42 per cent rise in domestic two-wheeler sales at 170,527 units.

Commercial Vehicles & Tractors

Tata Motors’s total domestic sales of MH&ICV vehicles, including trucks and buses, stood at 16,227 units in February 2024 (17,282 units). Ashok Leyland has reported an 18 per cent decline in its medium and heavy-duty truck sales at 8,492 units in February 2024. However, bus volumes grew 55 per cent at 2,252 units.

Tractor makers Mahindra & Mahindra and Escorts Kubota Ltd reported an 18 per cent and 17 per cent decline in their tractor sales at 20,121 units and 6,041 units, respectively, in February 2024.

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