Automotive Sales still patchy for November, Auto News, ET Auto

New Delhi: November was numb for the automotive industry. Maruti Suzuki India dropped. Hyundai India, its Korean arch-rival, gained. They together dominate the Indian car market and signal what is in store for 2021. Tata Motors, Kia Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Honda also gained. Other prominent brands like Ford and Nissan were net losers.

In November car sales in India were expected to grow by about 9% year-on-year, but were lower than the October sales of over 3.34 lakh units. Domestic sales in November could be only in the range of 2.86 lakh units.

Maruti Suzuki’s total domestic sale of 1,35,775 units was a drop of 2% over last year, but a more significant margin fall from 1,63,656 units sold in October. The company gained on higher dispatches of 5,623 units to its global ally Toyota in November 2020, against 2,286 units in the same month in 2019. It also gained on the export front from the 30% surge to 9,003 units last month.

However, Hyundai Motors India Ltd (HMIL), Tata Motors, Kia Motors Mahindra & Mahindra and Honda made the overall numbers healthy for the automakers in November 2020.

HMIL posted the highest ever November sales at 48,800 units in 2020. Tarun Garg, director – sales and marketing, HMIL said, “Building on the strong momentum driven by festive demand, Hyundai Motor India facilitated a sales growth of 9.4 % in November 2020 over the same period last year. Besides, aided by the healthy demand for SUV models of Creta and Venue, there has been a consistent demand for the newly-launched i20 that contributed positively to the sustained growth of the Indian automotive industry and economy.

The demand for other companies remained robust with Tata Motors on a complete resurgence, posted an impressive 108 percent growth to 21,641 units sold last month from 10,400 vehicles sold in 2019. The surge in passenger car sales helped the company to arrest the overall decline in its portfolio to mere 4 percent for November where 47,859 were sold by the company.

Given strong rural growth and signs of improvement in economic activities, we are hopeful to see this positive momentum continue post the festive season.Veejay Nakra, Chief Executive Officer, Automotive Division, M&M

Another impressive performer for the segment was Kia Motors that also is proving to be a strong contender for the top three position in the PV segment. The wholly owned subsidiary of Kia Motors Corporation, maintained its strong sales momentum for November by registering total sales of 21,022 units with its Sonet dominating the compact SUV market. Its Sonet sales of 11,417 units, helped posta robust growth of 50 percent over the same period last year.Its Managing Director and CEO Kookhyun Shim, “Since the Covid-19 outbreak, we were quite hopeful about the festive month and the results now are overwhelming. Not only urban, but customers from tier II, III, and IV markets too are acknowledging the need for personal mobility to maintain personal safety. We are expecting the market sentiment to improve more in coming months and we are confident that we will be able to continue this positive momentum in future as well.”

For the Mahindra’s the newly launched Thar SUV proved to be a hit with its ‘Utility Vehicle’ segment, posting 17,971 vehicle sales in November 2020, compared to 14,161 vehicles of November’19, a 27 percent growth.. The broader passenger vehicles segment (which includes UVs, Cars and Vans) sold 18,212 vehicles in November 2020, a growth of 24 percent over the same period last year.

“At Mahindra we are happy to achieve strong double digit growth in SUVs during the month of November, aided by a robust festive demand for all our products. Given strong rural growth and signs of improvement in economic activities, we are hopeful to see this positive momentum continue post the festive season,” says Veejay Nakra, Chief Executive Officer, Automotive Division, M&M.

Analysts prediction was on the dot for the month of November. “Automobile players across segments delivered decent volume performance in November 2020 with continuation of positive growth trajectory. Though the pace of growth tapered down, decent retail sales during the just concluded festival supported overall performance in the month. Tractor segment once again recorded healthy double digit growth on the back of a strong rural economy and healthy agri output. We expect volume traction to continue for the auto industry in coming months. With tractors to outperform strongly,” says Mitul Shah, Head Research at Reliance Securities.

Honda Cars India too had a rewarding festive season and clocked domestic sales of 9,990 units in November’20 as against 6,459 units in corresponding month last year, registering a growth of 55 percent.

Many of the prominent brands like Ford Motor India, Volkswagen, Nissan, Skoda and Renault remain in the negative territory in November raising doubts over the recovery in the passenger vehicle market.

The positivity continued for the two wheeler segment with Hero MotoCorp Ltd, the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, sold 5,91,091 units of motorcycles and scooters in November 2020, a 14 percent jump over last year. This was largely aided with its record retail sales that the company registered in the recently concluded festival period, where over 14 lakh units were retailed in the 32- day period starting from Navratras till Bhai-Duj.

“We have been continuously ramping up supply and production across the manufacturing units to cater to the increased demand. We believe that the growth in personal mobility post Covid-19 restrictions will further strengthen the demand for two-wheelers,” a senior Hero MotoCorp executive said.

Its arch-rival Honda’s domestic sales grew by a lower 11 percent to 4,12,641 units in November’20 compared to 373,283 units a year ago. YS Guleria, Director – Sales & Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India said, “If the second quarter was about stabilizing the automotive ecosystem, the third quarter is a bit about recovery. The festive sentiments helped us to improve retails with over a 1 million units mark crossed yet again in the two crucial festival months October & November.

The Chennai-based TVS Motor performed better with a 21 percent higher sales of 322,709 units in November 2020 as against 266,582 units in the month of November 2019. Backed by higher demand for two-wheelers that grew 30 percent registering sales of 247,789 units in November 2020 as against 191,222 units sold in November 2019 in the domestic market.

For India’s third largest two wheeler maker motorcycle sales grew 26 percent to 133,531 units in November over 105,963 units sold in 2019. Scooter, where it is the second largest after HMSI grew 26 to 106,196 units in November 2020 as against 84,169 units in November 2019.

For the iconic biker maker Royal Enfield November remained a flat month with 59,084 units sold last month from the 58,292 units sold in the previous year. Its cumulative sales jumped to 63,782 motorcycles in the month of November, against the sales of 60,411 motorcycles for the same month last year, higher 6 percent this year.

Infographic: Domestic Auto Sales

Source: Auto Industry