Car sales start on a positive note this year

Image Credit: Pixabay (Representative image)

As the first month of this calendar year ended, most carmakers saw double-digit growth in volumes. Auto industry observers anticipated robust growth in sales across categories, barring the two-wheeler segment, due to pent-up demand and abatement of the semiconductor shortage.

While new launches and healthy order books for SUVs such as the Maruti Suzuki Jimny boosted numbers, the transition to BS-VI phase-2 emission norms is likely to cause some disruption in dispatches from dealerships, said some analysts.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) reported cumulative sales of 172,535 units during January 2023, a year-on-year growth of 11.7 per cent. Total sales in the month include domestic sales of 151,367 units, sales to other OEMs of 3,775 units and exports of 17,393 units.

“The shortage of electronic components had a minor impact on the production of vehicles, mainly in domestic models. The Company took all possible measures to minimise the impact,” MSIL said in a statement.

Hyundai Motor India’s total sales stood at 62,276 units, up 16.6 per cent year-on-year compared to the 53,427 vehicles sold in January 2022. The company’s domestic sales grew nearly 14 per cent to 50,106 units, while exports went up by over 29 per cent to 12,170 units.

Tarun Garg, chief operating officer, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, said, “We have begun CY2023 on a high note recording double-digit growth in the month of January.”

Tata Motors sold 48,289 units of passenger vehicles last month, which is an 18 percent jump from the 40,942 units sold in January 2022. The company’s domestic passenger vehicle sales (including electric vehicles) rose 18 percent to 47,987 units, while exports grew 83 per cent to 302 units.

Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) sold 33,040 passenger vehicles in January 2023, a 65 percent growth in sales vis-à-vis 19,964 units sold during the same month last year. Last month, the Mumbai-based automaker sold 32,915 utility vehicles (SUVs and MPVs), up 66 percent, while the sale of cars and vans (including EVs) stood at 125 units, a growth of 8 percent.

Veejay Nakra, president, automotive division, M&M, said, “The successful launches of Thar RWD and our first all-electric SUV, XUV400, have received a very encouraging response from our customers in the first month of 2023.”

Toyota Kirloskar Motors (TKM) posted a 175 percent growth over January 2022. The carmaker reported wholesale despatches of 12,835 units in January 2023, up from 7,328 units in the same month a year ago.

Atul Sood, vice president, sales and strategic marketing, TKM, said, “Calendar year 2022 ended on a positive note for Toyota Kirloskar Motor. As the company clocked the highest wholesale in the last decade, we have stepped into the New Year with much excitement and optimism.”

MG Motor India, however, saw a decline in January 2023 as the company sold 4,114 units in India, a year-on-year drop of 4.45 per cent compared to 4,306 units registered in the corresponding period last year.

“With some improvement in the supply chain, production is regaining momentum.  However, select variants of the manufacturer still remain impacted,” the company said in a statement.