Home turf turns bumpier for Bajaj Auto, November sales volume drops 10%

Bajaj Auto motorcycles

Amid a persistent global chip shortage, Bajaj Auto reported a 10 percent fall in total sales volume to 3,79,276 units in November as against 4,22,240 units a year ago.

The automaker reported a weak domestic performance on the back of muted demand, as sales declined 20 percent to 1,58,755 units. Meanwhile, exports, which make up for more than half of the company’s sales, were down marginally by 1 percent.

The decline was largely led by two-wheelers as commercial vehicle sales saw good growth during the month. CV sales on the home turf rose 29 percent in November, while exports recorded a 2 percent uptick.

Two-wheeler sales declined 23 percent on year to 1,44,953 units in India and shipments dropped 2 percent to 1,93,520 units.

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Overall, two-wheeler sales fell 12 percent, but commercial vehicle volumes rose 10 percent.

On November 15, a senior official at the company had told Moneycontrol that the automaker lost half of its planned production during the July-September quarter due to the semiconductor shortage. He, however, added that it did not affect sales majorly.

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Demand for two-wheelers across most segments remained subdued over the last several months with festive days, too, seeing poor offtake. The April-September period witnessed 9 percent growth in wholesale volumes of two-wheelers, according to data supplied by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

However, the data is not strictly comparable since there was a lockdown during that period last year.