Passenger vehicle sales accelerate 4% to 3.5 lakh units in Nov

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After phenomenal retail sales during the festive season, carmakers recorded a 4 percent on-year growth in wholesale offtake at 350,000 units in November 2024, driven largely by demand in the wedding season, continued traction in rural markets, and strong offtake of sports utility vehicles (SUVs). In November 2023, total domestic passenger vehicle (PV) wholesales stood at 335,954 units.

Industry PV sales during January to November this year stood at 39,80,000 units, 4.1 percent higher than 38,21,000 units sold a year back. CNG sales crossed the 4-lakh mark during the April to November period, making a 23.5 percent jump over the last year's level.

India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India posted domestic wholesale of 1,44,238 units in November as against 1,34,158 units a year ago, clocking a growth of 5.5 percent. According to a senior official of Maruti Suzuki, the contribution of SUVs has gone up from 25.2 percent in the beginning of the financial year to around 29 percent in November.

“Our November sales were driven by a combination of several factors, including the continuity of the momentum from October to November, traction in rural markets, wedding season demand, spike in SUV sales, and good response for limited edition models,” Partho Banerjee, Maruti Suzuki India senior executive officer of marketing and sales, said.

He said the company’s rural penetration increased to 48.7 percent in November, which is 2.2 percent higher than the same month last year.  When enquired about urban markets, he maintained, “We are not seeing that kind traction that we saw in October. Our customers from urban markets usually postpone their purchases to avail of the year-end benefits.”

Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) witnessed a  a growth of 16 percent jump in its domestic utility vehicle sales at 46,222 units as against 39,981 units in November 2023.

Veejay Nakra, President, Automotive Division, M&M Ltd. stated, “This month saw the launch of our most awaited Electric Origin SUVs – the BE6e and XEV9e. The go to market for these electric origin SUVs will start in a phased manner in the later part of January 2025. Deliveries will commence towards the end of February or early March 2025.”

Tata Motors PV sales increased marginally by 2 percent to 47,063 units last month from 46,068 units in November 2023, when its EV sales grew 9 percent from 4,761 units to 5,202 units.

Recently listed Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), however, saw its domestic sales slowing down 2 percent on-year to 48,246 units last month as against 49,451 units a year ago.

“Our push towards fortifying the SUV supremacy continued in November with SUVs contributing 68.8 percent of our domestic sales. We also bolstered HMIL’s presence in the hinterland of India, by achieving highest ever monthly rural contribution of 22.1 percent in November,” said Tarun Garg, whole-time director and chief operating officer at HMIL.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) saw its total sales accelerate 44 percent YoY to 25,586 units in November. The carmaker sold 17,818 units last year. "Our diverse portfolio, spanning from hatchbacks to SUVs, continues to offer tailored mobility solutions that resonate with varying lifestyles," TKM Vice President of Sales-Service-Used Car Business Sabari Manohar said in a statement.

JSW MG Motor India reported 20 percent rise in wholesales at 6,019 units in November 2024 over the last one year. The company claimed that its electric crossover utility vehicle Windsor continues with its strong performance for the second month in a row with 3,144 wholesale units.

Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) despatched 5,005 units in the domestic market last month, which was 42.6 percent  lower than the 8,730 units sold in November 2023.