Led by festival demand, domestic automobile wholesales (dispatches to dealers) in October grew in double digits for most of the passenger vehicle (PV) and two-wheeler manufacturers, and the industry expects the trend to continue this month.

In the PV segment, country’s largest PVs manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) on Wednesday reported total domestic sales of 1,68,047 units in October, showing a growth of around 20 per cent year-on-year (YoY) as compared to 1,40,337 units in the corresponding month last year.

“It is not only the highest in October in terms of sales but the highest-ever month which we have seen in the Indian passenger vehicle industry in any year in any month,” Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer (Marketing and Sales), MSIL, told reporters on a call. He said the fading away of semiconductor shortage crisis has helped the industry ramp up production and cater to enhanced demand in the market.

As a result, market share for MSIL increased in October to 43 per cent from 41.7 per cent last year, Srivastava said, adding that in October, the percentage of sales for SUVs continued to be high at 50.7 per cent, hatchbacks is 29 per cent and sedans have come down to 8.1 per cent on YoY basis.

‘Exter’ maker and the second largest PV maker, Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) also said it has recorded a growth of 15 per cent YoY in domestic wholesales to 55,128 units in October as compared with 48,001 units in same month last year.

“As we enter the peak of festive season in India, Hyundai Motor India registered robust sales number of 55,128 units in the domestic market in October...the supply situation is back to full normalcy and our network is geared up to delight customers with the delivery of their favourite Hyundai cars,” Tarun Garg, Chief Operating Officer, HMIL, said.

Utility vehicles manufacturer, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), recorded highest sales for the fourth consecutive month at 43,708 units, a growth of 35 per cent y-o-y as compared with 32,298 units of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) in the corresponding month last year.

“In October, we clocked the highest-ever volumes at 80,679 vehicles, a growth of 32 per cent. Both SUVs and commercial vehicles (CVs) individually achieved highest-ever volumes for the third consecutive month at 43,708 and 25,715 units, respectively. While the strong festive demand should see us continue our growth momentum in November, we will keep a close watch of select supply related challenges,” Veejay Nakra, President, Automotive Division, M&M, said.

Tata Motors reported a growth of seven per cent y-o-y to 48,637 units in October in the passenger vehicle segment as compared with 45,423 units in corresponding month last year.

‘Fortuner’ maker Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) reported yet another strong performance with the domestic sales of 20,542 units in October compared with 13,143 units in October 2022.

However, another Japanese subsidiary, Honda Cars India, reported a decline of 1.4 per cent YoY in its domestic sales to 9,400 units during the month as against 9,543 units in October 2022.

Two-wheeler sales

In the two-wheeler segment, market leader Hero MotoCorp recorded domestic wholesales of 5,59,766 units in October, a growth of 26.4 per cent y-o-y as compared with 4,42,825 units in October 2022.

Similarly, TVS Motor Company, Bajaj Auto and Suzuki Motorcycle India also recorded double digit growth in their sales during the month.

In the CV segment, M&M recorded highest-ever domestic sales at 25,715 units during the month, a growth of 22.5 per cent YoY as compared with 20,980 units in October 2022.

Tata Motors saw a growth of four per cent y-o-y in its CV sales to 32,488 units against 31,320 in October 2022.

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