Automobile sales in the domestic market showed a mixed trend in March with companies like Maruti Suzuki India and Kia India reporting a decline in wholesale numbers (dispatches to dealers) on year-on-year (YoY) basis, while Hyundai Motor India, Tata Motors and Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s sales grew during the month.

However, in FY 23, most of the carmakers, except Nissan India, have reported a double digit growth compared with FY22.

On monthly sales, the country’s No 1 passenger vehicles (PVs) maker, Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), on Saturday reported a wholesale of 1,32,763 units in March — a marginal decline compared with 1,33,861 units in the same month last year.

shortage of auto comps

“The shortage of electronic components had some impact on the production of vehicles in FY23. The company took all possible measures to minimise the impact,” MSIL said. Kia India also reported a five per cent decline YoY in its sales during the month to 21,501 units in the domestic market against 22,622 vehicles in corresponding month last year.

However, Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) recorded a growth of 13 per cent YoY to 50,600 units during the month against 44,600 units in March last year. Tata Motors also reported a growth four per cent YoY to 44,044 units last month compared with 42,293 units in March 2022.

Similarly, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) sold 18,670 units in March against 17,131 units in the corresponding month last year.

The ‘City’ maker Honda Cars India, MG India and Nissan India also reported growth in their sales during the month.

Maruti sales zoom

In the yearly basis, MSIL reported a growth of 21 per cent to around 16.07 lakh units in FY23 compared with around 13.31 lakh units in FY22.

Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing and Sales, MSIL, said the company reported its highest-ever sales in a financial year despite chip shortage continuing to impact the production activity.

For the overall PV industry, he said the sales last fiscal rose to 38.89 lakh units, which is an increase of 27 per cent from 30.69 lakh units in FY 2021-22.

“Both wholesales and retails were the highest for the industry last fiscal. The industry is expected to rise to 4.05-4.10 million in the current fiscal so we expect the industry growth to be in the range of 5-7 per cent this fiscal and the company would like to perform better than the industry,” Srivastava added.

Second largest PV maker Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) recorded 18 per cent growth during the last fiscal at around 5.68 lakh units (4.81 lakh).

Tata Motors scaled a new sales peak by posting its highest-ever annual domestic sales of more than 5.38 lakh units, achieving a 46 per cent sales growth over FY22 and registering its third successive year of industry beating growth.

Pent-up demand

“FY23 has set a new record for PV sales in India. The steep growth witnessed by the industry was driven by post-Covid pent-up demand in early part of the year, the launch of several new vehicles and easing of the semiconductor shortage,” Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, said.

In the two-wheeler segment, market leader Hero MotoCorp recorded a double digit growth in both monthly sales in March and during April-March period. Tamil Nadu-based TVS Motor and Royal Enfield also reported growth in their respective sales.

In the commercial vehicle segment, too, most of the companies reported growth in their sales.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW