Despite festive season, large auto firms see muted growth; SUV, UVs log sharp sales growth in Oct.

In line with sluggish automobile sales over the past several months, India’s top three passenger car makers namely Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai Motor and Tata Motors, despite the tailwinds of a favourable festive season, were seen barely keeping their heads above the water while automakers with a strong SUV and UV line up like Mahindra & Mahindra and Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported substantially high sales numbers in October 2024 as per sales data released by auto companies on Friday.

Passenger vehicle (PV) market leader Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. in October 2024 sold a total of 2,06,434 units as compared with 1,99,217 units in the year-ago period, up. 3.62%. The higher sales was on account of 51% increase in exports to 33,168 units and over 90% increase in sales to Toyota at 10,136 units during the month.  

Total domestic sales de-grew 5.12% to 1,63,130 units from 1,71,941 units a year ago. But the utility vehicle sales of brands such as Brezza, Ertiga, Fronx, Grand Vitara, Invicto, Jimny, XL6 increased over 19% to 70,644 units indicating the preference for SUVs and UV over sedans and hatch back cars. 

Second largest auto maker Hyundai Motor India Ltd. reported domestic sales of 55,568 units as compared with 55, 128 units a year ago up 0.8%. Overall SUV contribution to domestic sales remained at 68.2% for the month. Exports rose 6.7% to 14,510 units. And total sales grew by 2% to 70,078 units. 

Tarun Garg, Whole-time Director and COO, HMIL said, “We witnessed a strong demand for our SUV portfolio during festive period, leading to our highest-ever monthly SUV sales at 37,902 units, including highest ever monthly domestic sales of the Hyundai CRETA at 17,497 units.”

Tata Motors’ October 2024 sales remained flat at 82,682 units In the same period last year the company had sold 82,954 units. These include total commercial vehicles (CV) sales of 34,259 units, up 0% YoY and total passenger vehicles (PV) sales of 48,423 units, a growth of 0% YoY. 

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M) sold a total of 96,648 vehicles including exports as compared with 80,679 units a year ago, up 20%. The company reported SUV sales of 54,504 vehicles, up 25% Year on Year (YoY). Including exports the total SUV sales were 55,571 units. The domestic sales for Commercial Vehicles stood at 28,812 units and exports went up by 89% to 3,506 units.

Veejay Nakra, President, Automotive Division, M&M Ltd., “The month began on a fantastic note with Thar ROXX garnering 1.7 lakh bookings in the first 60 minutes [of opening of booking] and the positive momentum continued across the SUV portfolio through the festive season.”

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) reported sales of 30,845 units, up 41% over 21,879 units sold in the year ago period. During October 2024, TKM’s domestic sales stood at 28,138 units while exports were 2707 units.

“A key driver of this growth has been TKM’s expanded production capacity, achieved through the introduction of three-shift operations, which has enabled the company to better meet the rising market demand,” the company said.

Kia India said it delivered 28,545 units in October 2024, up 30% YoY compared with 21,941 units delivered in October 2023.

Hardeep Singh Brar, Sr. VP and Head of Sales and Marketing said, “By aligning swift delivery with smart inventory control, we ensured our customers receive the timely delivery of vehicles, while our dealers benefit from streamlined, stable operations.” 

“With the recent launch of the Carnival Limousine Plus and Kia EV9, we have stepped into Kia 2.0, an initiative focused on redefining modern and future-oriented mobility solutions,” he said.

Honda Cars India Ltd. (HCIL) registered total sales of 10,080 units as compared with 13,083 units a year ago, down 23%.

Domestic sales stood at 5,546 units as compared with 9,400 units the year ago and exports of 4,534 units as compared with 3,683 units in the same period last year. 

“It surely revitalized demand compared to previous few months of muted activity for the industry. Our dispatches and deliveries aligned with our expectations. Our focused approach to aligning production and inventory with demand positions us well to sustain this momentum,” said Kunal Behl, Vice President, Marketing & Sales, Honda Cars India Ltd.

JSW MG Motor India today announced sales of 7,045 units a YoY growth of 31% over the same period last year.

The company’s New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) remain a significant part of its overall sales, contributing over 70% of total volumes, it said.

 TVS Motor Company recorded monthly sales of 489,015 units up 13% as against 434,714 units in the year ago period. 

Royal Enfield sold 1,10,574 motorcycles in October 2024, up 31% over the same period last year. The company exported 8,688 motorcycles during the month as compared to 3,477 during the same period last year.

Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, sold 6,79,091 units in October 2024, up 18% over 5,74,930 units sold in October 2023. “This significant growth was primarily driven by robust demand from key urban and rural areas, particularly in the 100cc and 125cc segment during the festive period,” the company said.

Published – November 01, 2024 08:27 pm IST

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