Vehicle sales in India sees 91 percent jump; festive season and smooth chip supplies aids growth

Leading Indian automakers like Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Hyundai, and Toyota noticed growth in their sales numbers owing to the ongoing festive season and easing chip shortage situation, reports PTI.

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The domestic passenger vehicle industry recorded its best-ever monthly sales performance in September thanks to strong holiday demand, stronger manufacturing, and easier semiconductor supply. The second quarter sales were able to surpass the 10-lakh sales milestone because of the industry volumes in September, which were 3,55 946 units, a 91 percent increase from the same month last year. Leading manufacturers Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, and Hyundai were able to increase their deliveries to dealers last month as a result of improved production as a result of the situation with the chip shortage eased.

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), said its total domestic passenger vehicle wholesales stood at 1,48,380 units last month as compared to 63,111 units in September last year.

"It is the second best month for the company in 42 months," MSI Senior Executive Director (Marketing & Sales) Shashank Srivastava told reporters. The best month for the auto major was October 2020, when it had dispatched 1,63,000 units in the domestic market, he added. Srivastava said that the company's market share stood at 42 percent last month, a jump of 7.8 percent over September 2021. He noted that the industry had crossed the 10-lakh sales mark in a quarter for the first time ever in the July-September period.

"It is the first time ever that the industry breached the one million sales mark in a quarter. Even the first six-month wholesales are best for the industry with sales of 19.37 lakh units," he added.

Sales of mini cars, comprising Alto and S-Presso, rose to 29,574 units as compared with 14,936 in the same month last year, MSI reported. Similarly, sales in the compact segment, including models such as Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno, and Dzire, rose to 72,176 units as against 20,891 cars in September 2021.

Similarly, sales of utility vehicles, including Grand Vitara, Brezza, and Ertiga, rose to 32,574 units compared with 18,459 vehicles in the year-ago month, MSI said. Rival Hyundai Motor India reported domestic wholesales of 49,700 units last month, 50 percent more than 33,087 units sold in September 2021.

"With the excellent resilience shown by the Indian economy over the last few quarters, the festive season has further fuelled the demand momentum," Hyundai Motor India Director (Sales, Marketing & Service) Tarun Garg said.

Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Managing Director Shailesh Chandra said the company attained its highest ever monthly sales of 47,654 last month, led by record sales of Nexon and Punch. "Going forward, we expect the festive season will witness strong retail on the back of improving the supply of vehicles," he added. Similarly, Kia India also reported its best-ever sales performance last month with dispatches of 25,857 units to dealers.

Japanese carmaker Honda Cars India said its domestic wholesales increased by 29 percent to 8,714 units last month as compared with 6,765 units in September 2021. "The festive demand has been strong and continues to show good momentum. On the supply side, we were able to increase our factory output compared to last month, which is also a positive for the festive sales in terms of better availability of Honda cars during the Navratras, Dussehra, and Diwali period," Honda Cars India Director (Marketing and Sales) Yuichi Murata said.

Similarly, Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported a 66 percent increase in wholesales last month at 15,378 units. The Bengaluru-based automaker dispatched 9,284 units to its dealers in September 2021.

Similarly, Skoda Auto India said its sales increased by 17 percent to 3,543 units in September. Volkswagen Passenger Cars India reported a 60 percent increase in September dispatches at 4,103 units.

In the two-wheeler segment, Hero MotoCorp said its domestic sales stood at 5,07,690 units in September as compared with 5,05,462 units in the year-ago period. TVS Motor company said its domestic two-wheeler sales increased by 16 percent to 2,83,878 units last month as against 2,44,084 units in September 2021.

With inputs from PTI