With the transition to BS-VI round the corner, and the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak in China hitting the components supply chain, automobile sales continued to decline for most companies in February.

Market leader Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), on Sunday, said it sold 1,33,702 units in the domestic market in February, down 2.3 per cent from the 1,36,912 units sold in the same month last year.

The company sold 27,499 units in the mini segment (Alto, S-Presso) during the month, up 11 per cent (24,751 units). Its utility vehicles (such as Ertiga, S-Cross, Vitara Brezza and XL6) segment grew 3.5 per cent to 22,604 units (21,834 units).

However, the compact segment (including WagonR, Swift, Celerio, Baleno and Ignis), which contributes the largest chunk of its sales, declined 4 per cent to 69,828 units (72,678 units).

Similarly, Hyundai Motor India reported a 7.2 per cent decline in sales to 40,010 units in the domestic market in February, compared with 43,110 units in February last year.

Largest-ever decline

Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) reported one of the largest declines ever year-on-year (YoY) during the month — by 31 per cent and 58 per cent, respectively — in their domestic sales.

While M&M sold 10,938 units (26,109 units), Tata Motors sold 12,430 units (18,110 units).

“The outbreak of Covid-19 in China and a recent fire incident at one of our strategic vendors affected vehicle production and wholesale volume. Multiple actions are being taken to reduce the impact, staying close to our customers by providing transparency of the delivery situation,” said Mayank Pareek, President, Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors.

MG Motor has also seen a decline in sales in February at 1,376 units, compared to 3,130 units in January.

In the commercial vehicle segment, too, companies including Volvo Eicher, Tata Motors, M&M and Maruti Suzuki (Super Carry) reported higher double-digit decline in sales in February.

Apart from passenger cars, commercial vehicle sales saw double-digit decline in February

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