Car sales bring cheer to Indian automakers this festive season

Indian automakers on Wednesday reported record high Passenger vehicle (PV) sales in October on the back of strong demand in the festive period. 

The year-on-year (YoY) growth registered by them for PV ranged between 66 per cent and 7 per cent. The country’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki (MSIL), saw a 19.7 per cent YoY rise in its sales this October. The other major PV player Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) almost matched this performance at 18 per cent. Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), working with a relatively small base saw 66 per cent hike, while Tata Motors brought up the rear end with a 7 per cent growth.

In October, MSILsold 168,047 units. The month also saw the company clock its highest-ever monthly sales volume with 1,99,217 units (domestic plus exports) as against 1,67,520 units in October 2022, registering a growth of 19%. Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, MSIL, however, said that the retail offtake will determine the performance going forward. 

At the same time HMIL registered total sales of 68,728 units, with its domestic sales growing by 15 per cent and exports by 36 per cent, YoY. “As we enter the peak of festive season in India, Hyundai Motor India registered robust sales in the domestic market in the month of October,” Tarun Garg, chief operating officer of Hyundai Motor India, underscored adding that the supply situation is back to full normalcy and our network is geared up for deliveries.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M) reported a 35% jump in its  domestic PV sales in October 2023 at 43,708 units, with a 32% surge in its total auto sales. “While the strong festive demand should see us continue our growth momentum in November, we will keep a close watch on select supply-related challenges,” Veejay Nakra, President, Automotive Division, M&M Ltd cautioned.

Japanese auto giant, TKM, sold 21,879 units last month, which included 20,542 units in the domestic market and 1,337 in exports. Its vice president of sales, and strategic marketing Atul Sood, credited this to the market acceptance of Toyota’s line up including Fortuner, Innova Crysta, Innova Hycross among others. “This year, the offtake of the festive season has been very strong for both TKM and as well as the industry,” said Sood, adding that strong market sentiments around Diwali will result in very buoyant performance in the coming months. 

Tata Motors sold 48,337 units (including electric vehicles), this October, in the domestic market, while its total sales grew 5.89% (YoY) to 82,954 units. Interestingly, its electric vehicles the sales jumped 28% YoY to 5,465 units.