Car manufacturers post mixed sales in August; CV sales make big recovery

Key highlights:

• Maruti Suzuki's domestic sales stood at 1,52,000 units, up 26.7%
• Hyundai Motor India reported a 9% increase in domestic sales
• Tata Motors' commercial vehicle segment saw its domestic sales rise up by 34.53%

Car sales in August have been mixed, with some of the companies reporting a huge growth in sales during the month, while others reported a decline in sales. Manufacturers such as Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai Motor India, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra reported a growth in sales during the month of August.

The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India on Friday reported 23.8% increase in total sales at 1,63,701 units in August as against 1,32,211 units in the year-ago month.

The company's domestic sales stood at 1,52,000 units, up 26.7% from 1,19,931 units in August last year, MSI said in a statement.

The auto major further said sales of the compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Dzire and Baleno jumped by 62.4% to 74,012 units last month as against 45,579 units in the year-ago month.

Sales of utility vehicles, including Gypsy, Grand Vitara, Ertiga, S-Cross and compact SUV Vitara Brezza increased by 27.6% to 21,442 units in August, from 16,806 units in the same month of 2016.

Sales of vans -- Omni and Eeco -- increased by 8.6% to 13,931 units last month as against 12,831 units in the year-ago period.

Maruti Suzuki said sales of mid-sized sedan Ciaz grew by 3.9% to 6,457 units during the month.

Hyundai Motor India reported a 9% increase in domestic sales at 47,103 units in August.

The company had sold 43,201 units in August 2016, HMIL said in a statement.

HMIL Director, sales and marketing, Rakesh Srivastava said August sales were boosted by strong response to the newly launched Verna that received more than 7,000 bookings within 10 days of launch.

He said the market faced challenges from floods in many states and also speculations on the GST cess increase.

Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra reported a 3.75% increase in total sales at 42,116 units in August. The company had sold 40,591 units in the same month last year, the company said in a statement.

In the domestic market, sales were up 7.01% at 39,534 units last month as compared to 36,944 units in August 2016.

Sales of passenger vehicles, including Scorpio, XUV500, Xylo, Bolero and Verito, were up 5.91% at 19,325 units as compared to 18,246 units in the same month last year.

Mahindra, President Automotive Sector Rajan Wadhera said the upsurge in demand has been due to good monsoons and rural penetration. “Our brands continue to gain traction despite several external challenges. As we get into festive season, we are confident of a good growth over the next couple of months, on the back of our diversified product portfolio,” he added.

Tata Motors reported 13.64% increase in total sales at 48,988 units in August. The company had sold 43,105 units in the same month last year, Tata Motors said in a statement.

Domestic sales of commercial and passenger vehicles last month were at 45,906 units as against 36,510 units in the same month last year, up 25.74% on the back of growing demand across segments and increased positive customer sentiments, it added.

Sales of passenger vehicles in the domestic market grew by 10.29% to 14,340 units last month as against 13,002 units in August last year.

Tata Motors President, Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Mayank Pareek said the sales growth has been on the back of strong performance of the new generation cars like Tiago, Tigor and Hexa.

"With Ganesh Chaturthi, we have entered the festive season and we expect the growth momentum to continue," he added.

However, Toyota Kirloskar Motors and Ford India reported a decline in sales during August.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) reported 6.86% decline in total sales at 13,081 units in August. The company had sold a total of 14,045 units in the same month last year, TKM said in a statement.

Domestic sales declined 6.12% at 12,017 units in August as against 12,801 units in the same month last year.

Toyota Director and Senior Vice-President - Sales and Marketing N Raja said, "Our sales numbers this month are not truly reflective of the existing customer orders. Post the announcement on potential cess hike, there was a considerable rise in customer inquiries and orders."

He said the company faced production limitations which held it back from catching up with high demand and holidays in August also led to lesser number of production days.

"With the demand on the rise, the current waiting period for Innova has gone up to around 6-8 weeks and Fortuner is around 10-12 weeks respectively," Raja added.

Demand for hybrid product Camry Hybrid has fallen significantly owing to the price hike after GST implementation, he said, adding the company was hoping that the government would reinstate "the preferential (lower) tax rate in favour of clean and green technologies such as strong hybrids similar to pre-GST era".

Ford India reported 40.39% decline in total sales at 15,740 units in August this year. The company had sold 26,408 units in the same month last year, Ford India said in a statement.

Domestic sales were down 9% to 7,777 units last month as against 8,548 in August last year, it said.

Ford India President and Managing Director Anurag Mehrotra said, "Constraints in the supply chain severely impacted export as well as domestic production for Ford cars in August."

Stating that the company is looking forward to the festive season, he said the company expected a stable and conducive policy framework from the government "as frequent changes in tax rates threaten to have an adverse impact on consumer sentiment".

Two-wheeler sales see large growth:

Two-wheeler companies sales have seen a recovery during the month of August post GST and some companies have even grown by a huge margin.

Bajaj Auto reported 2.98% increase in total sales in August at 3,35,031 units as against 3,25,347 units in the same month last year.

Domestic sales increased marginally at 2,00,659 units as against 2,00,314 units in the same month last year, Bajaj Auto said in a statement.

Total motorcycle sales were at 2,83,861 units as against 2,79,911 units in August last year, up 1.4%.

Domestic motorcycle sales were at 1,71,664 units last month as compared to 1,74,719 units in August last year, down 1.75%.

Suzuki Motorcycle India reported 54.25% jump in sales at 56,745 units in August, its best ever monthly sales.

The company had sold 36,787 units in August last year, Suzuki Motorcycle said in a statement.

Buoyed by the robust performance, the company said it is targeting an annual sale of 5 lakh units in 2017-18.

"Our performance in August has been consistent with the rapid strides that we continue to take in FY 2017-18," Suzuki Motorcycle, Executive Vice-President Sales and Marketing, Sajeev Rajasekhran said.

He said the introduction of new Gixxer ABS variants and Gixxer Special Edition ahead of the festive season has injected a renewed confidence in the company's efforts to best serve its customers.

Royal Enfield, the two-wheeler division of Eicher Motors, reported 21.99% increase in total sales at 67,977 units in August.

In the same month last year, the company had sold 55,721 units, Eicher Motors said in a statement.

Of the total sales, models with engine capacity up to 350 cc stood at 63,637 units. There were 4,340 units of models with engine capacity up to 500 cc sold during the month.

Commercial vehicles post double-digit sales growth:

The commercial vehicle segment, which has been struggling post the BS IV impact, has managed to see a very good growth during the month. CV companies such as Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors and Mahindra posted a double-digit growth in sales in August.

Ashok Leyland reported a 25.11% increase in total sales at 13,634 units in August. The company had sold 10,897 units in the same month last year.

Sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCV) grew by 28.85% to 10,567 units as against 8,201 in the year- ago month, the company said in a statement.

Light commercial vehicle sales rose 13.76% to 3,067 units compared to 2,696 in August last year, it added.

Tata Motors' commercial vehicle segment saw its domestic sales rise up by 34.53% at 31,566 units last month as against 23,464 units in the year-ago period.

Overall sales of Tata Motors' MHCV trucks were at 10,926 units as against 7,190 units in August 2016, a growth of 51.96%.

Increased imposition of restrictions on overloading, growing momentum in infrastructure, mining and construction segments have boosted the demand in the MHCV segment, Tata Motors Head Commercial Vehicle Business Unit Girish Wagh said.

"In line with our turnaround strategy, we will be introducing new products and will continue to undertake appropriate measures to improve our performance across segments," he added.

Mahindra's commercial vehicle sales were up 16.50% at 16,303 units in August against 13,993 units in the year-ago period, the company said.

Mahindra's tractor sales grew by 21.95% as it grew to 16,516 units in August this year from 13,543 units in the same month last year. Domestic sales were at 15,246 units as against 12,327 units in the year-ago month, up 23.67%, it added.

However, commercial vehicles maker SML Isuzu reported a 50% decline in total sales at 541 units in August 2017.

The company had sold 1,082 units in the same month a year ago, SML Isuzu said in a BSE filing.

(With inputs from PTI)

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