As per industry estimates 355,000-360,000 cars, sedans and utility vehicles were sold in September, which is a decline of about 1-2.5% over 364,000 units sold in the year-ago period. PV sales dropped by 1.8% in August, and by 2.5% in July.
Industry numbers were dragged down by Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India, Tata Motors who all reported a drop in sales last month. Market leader Maruti Suzuki said it “calibrated” wholesale dispatches from factories to dealerships to control stocks at retail outlets. The company said inventory in the channel stands at about a month, down from 36-37 days at the start of last month.
Automakers are hopeful while the first half of the fiscal year saw disruptions on account of general elections, severe heatwaves and floods in several states, good monsoons will put more money in the hands of consumers in the upcoming festive season spurring consumption.
Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer (marketing and sales) at Maruti Suzuki said, “We have seen positive traction during Onam and Ganesh Chaturthi. During Onam our bookings went up by 11%, and retail sales by 5%. Even during Shraddh (which is considered an inauspicious period for closing purchases) bookings were up by 5%. These deliveries will take place during Navratri and Diwali. There should be an overall growth in festive sales.”
In September, Maruti Suzuki’s volumes dipped by about 4% to 144,962 units. Korean rival Hyundai too saw sales fall by 5.8% to 51,101 units. Meanwhile, at homegrown auto major Tata Motors passenger vehicle sales declined by 8% to 41,063 units. Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility said, “The PV industry in Q2 FY25 saw more than 5% decline in retails (Vahan registrations) compared to Q2 FY24 driven by slow consumer demand and seasonal factors. In contrast, industry offtake was significantly higher than registrations in anticipation of a strong start to the festive season, resulting in a continued buildup of channel stock.” Electric vehicle sales in personal segment too was affected by the lapse of registration and road tax waivers in key states, he added. In the meantime, fleet EV sales continued to remain impacted due to lapse of FAME II and non-inclusion of the fleet segment in PM-eDRIVE scheme.
“Registrations picked up pace towards end of the month which augurs well for the festive period ahead”, Chandra informed, adding the company is focused on driving up consumer preference for its range of vehicles while maintaining the health of our dealer network.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) bucked industry trend to report 24% increase in sales at 51,062 units in September. The company is expecting further growth in the coming weeks with the opening of bookings for the much-awaited Thar RoXX on 3 rd October. Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) also saw sales of its vehicles going up by 7.4% to 23,802 units in the period under review.
Sabari Manohar, vice-president (Sales-Service-Used Car Business), Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “As the festive fervour picks-up footfalls and enquiries are charged up which makes us positive of a very good festive season. Notably, our SUV, MPV, and small car segments have experienced significant growth nationwide, contributing over 90% to our sales in the month of September.”
To meet this rising demand for its products, the company has introduced a third shift. This has significantly optimized our supply chain, particularly for high-demand models where waiting periods have been reduced, Manohar said.
At Kia India, sales rose 17% to 23,523 units in September. While the share of electric vehicles in total sales rose to 49% in JSW MG Motor India, overall volumes went down by 8% to 4,588 units. “The automotive industry is facing some challenges on the sales front due to the inauspicious period of Shraddha and an extended monsoon”, the company said in a statement. The statement added with the onset of the festive season, the carmaker is optimistic about positive traction in the market and an uptick in footfalls at its dealerships.
Two-wheeler makers reported healthy growth in wholesales last month. While two-wheelers sales at Hero MotoCorp increased by 18.6% to 616,706 units, that at Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India grew by 9% to 536,391 units. At TVS Motor Company too domestic sales of two-wheeler registered a growth of 23%. Sales at the company increased from 300,493 units in September 2023 to 369,138 units in September 2024.
In the commercial vehicle segment, sales remained under pressure. Market leader Tata Motors saw volumes drop 23% to 28,631 units in September. Ashok Leyland too saw sales decline by 12% to 16,041 units in the month under consideration. Meanwhile, VECV posted a marginal increase of 2.75% to sell 7,134 units last month.
Girish Wagh, Executive Director, Tata Motors, said, “Slowdown in infrastructure project execution, reduction in mining activity and an overall drop in fleet utilization due to heavy rains resulted in the HCV (heavy CV) segment record a 25% YoY decline in Q2 FY25 and the ILMCV (intermediate, light and medium CV) segment register a 11% decline.” Resilient demand in the passenger commercial vehicles business saw it register a 3% increase in Q2 FY25 over Q2 FY24.
Wagh said he expects a gradual improvement in the segment with the company making efforts to address challenges in first-time user financing. “As we move forward, with the rains easing, increased infrastructure spending, and the arrival of the festive season boosting consumption, we anticipate demand to pick up gradually in Q3, led by ILMCV and Buses, followed by MHCV and SCVPU”, he informed.
In the farm equipment sector, Mahindra saw tractor sales in the local market rose 3% to 43,201 units. Hemant Sikka, President (Farm Equipment Sector), Mahindra & Mahindra said “Monsoon rainfall has seen an increase of 7.5% over LPA and this has helped increase in Kharif sowing of all crops except cotton. Reservoir levels have recovered very well and are now at 13% higher than LPA, which augurs very well for a bumper Rabi crop. On the back of good kharif crop and likely strong Rabi crop, rural sentiments are positive. With positive terms of trade for farmers and upcoming festivals, we expect robust demand for tractors going forward.”