Sales of passenger vehicles in the local market declined for the second straight month in August, on a high base, and with carmakers reducing dispatches to rationalise stocks at dealerships.
According to industry estimates around 350,000-355,000 cars, sedans and utility vehicles were dispatched from factories to dealerships last month, which is a decline of 1.7-3% over 361,123 vehicles sold in August 2023. Automakers in India mostly report wholesale dispatches to dealers and not retail sales to customers.
Carmakers are hopeful of healthy demand in the upcoming festive season during the Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharashtra starting Sep 7 and Onam in Kerala from Sep 16.
In August, market leader Maruti Suzuki saw sales fall by 8.4% to 143,075 units. Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer (marketing and sales), Maruti Suzuki, said, “We calibrated our dispatches with market demand to bring down stocks at dealerships. Our inventory in the channel has now come down to 36 days (from 38 days earlier). We want to maintain this level, we do not want to bring this down further because lower stocks could impact availability of vehicles and lead to loss of sales during the festive season.”
Banerjee said the company has seen good response to its vehicles in Kerala with the start of the Chingham month in August 17. “Our bookings have gone up by 7% in Kerala. Onam this year is in September, when we expect retails to pick up. Overall, our wholesale has been in line with retails in August, which is a good sign”, Banerjee informed. The company has an order bank for 165,000 vehicles, at present.
In August, as much as 55% of sales of passenger vehicles in the domestic market came in from SUVs. At Hyundai too, Tarun Garg, Whole-time Director and Chief Operating Officer, said, “SUVs, led by models like CRETA, VENUE and EXTER remain a key growth driver with 66.8% contribution to domestic sales. We are soon going to launch the bold new 6 and 7-seater SUV, Hyundai ALCAZAR and we are confident of strong festive season response to this new launch.”
Hyundai saw local sales drop by 8% to 49,525 units last month. Homegrown auto major Tata Motors too reported a decline of 3% to sell 44,142 units in August.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), Kia and MG Motor India bucked the trend to grow volumes last month on demand for their utility vehicles. While sales at Toyota went up by 36.5% to 28,589 units, that at Kia rose 17.2% to 22,523 units. JSW MG Motor retailed 4,571 units, with more than a third of these sales coming in from EVs.
Sabari Manohar, vice President, (Sales-Service-Used Car Business), Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “As we approach the festive season, demand for our products remain buoyant, and we are already witnessing increased consumer interest and higher footfall across all our dealerships. SUVs and MPVs continue to significantly contribute to our sales numbers, reflecting a growing preference for these segment vehicles. Interestingly, this trend is not limited to major urban centres but extends to tier 2 and tier 3 markets as well, demonstrating widespread customer acceptance for our offerings.”
Hardeep Singh Brar, Senior Vice President and National Head of Sales & Marketing, said, the company’s “strategic optimization” of the products, made its vehicles compelling and value-for-money. “Kia India is committed to offering vehicles that resonate well with our customers’ evolving needs, preferences and aspirations and to ensure that we are also, continuously expanding our footholds in the country”, Brar added.
In the two-wheeler segment, TVS Motor Company which released monthly data Sunday, saw sales go up by 13% to 289,063 units due to revival in consumer demand across rural and urban markets. Commercial vehicle sales though remained subdued with market leader Tata Motors reporting a drop of 16% in sales at 25,864 units in August.
