After witnessing a yearly drop in volumes for three months in a row, Passenger Vehicles (PV) wholesales turned flat in October 2024 at around 3,90,000 units. In October last year, carmakers despatched around 3,91,472 units to dealers.
Despite flat wholesale numbers, PV retails stood at 4,50, 645 units in October 2024, showing a Year-on-Year (YoY) growth of nearly 34 percent from 3,36,382 units in the same month last year, as per vahan data.
Maruti Suzuki’s total domestic PV wholesales were at 1,59,591 units last month compared with 1,68,047 units in the year-ago month, a decline of 5 percent. The country’s largest carmaker, however, maintained that its retail numbers stood at 2,02,402 units in October 2024 (up by 22.4 percent YoY).
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According to Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), “Wholesale (figures) would not be the right index because the market has to be seen from the retailing (figures) point of view.”
He noted that October 2024 turned out be the highest October in the history of Maruti Suzuki with over 2 lakh deliveries. “Last year we did close to 18 lakh units (in October). Our last highest October was in FY 20-21 with 191,476 units retailed.”
Banerjee affirmed that higher retail offtake was on the back of record deliveries on Dhanteras. “We sold around 42,000 units on Dhanteras. Last year, we retailed around 23,000 units in Dhanteras.” The company is optimistic about healthy retail sales in the month of November as few lakh marriages are there within a span of 11-12 days, he added.
Dhanteras, also known as 'Dhanatrayodash' is a festival celebrated by Hindus. On this day, people purchase utensils, cars, smartphones, jewellery, etc., to bring good luck. Dhanteras period began on 29th Oct, 2024 at 10:31 am and concluded on 30th Oct, 2024at 1:15 pm.
The recently-listed Hyundai Motor India Ltd.’s (HMIL) domestic sales were up marginally at 55,568 units last month as compared to 55,128 units in October 2023.
"We witnessed a strong demand for our SUV portfolio during festive period, leading to our highest-ever monthly SUV sales at 37,902 units, including the highest-ever monthly domestic sales of the Hyundai Creta at 17,497 units," HMIL Chief Operating Officer, Tarun Garg said.
According to him, SUVs remain a cornerstone of the company's lineup, representing 68.2 percent of the total monthly sales in October 2024, with similar penetration in urban as well as rural markets.
Tata Motors Ltd.’s domestic PV sales were down at 48,131 units compared to 48,337 units in the year-ago month.
Mahindra and Mahindra, which continues to buck the trend, reported its highest-ever monthly auto sales in October this year. The Mumbai-based auto major had dispatched 54,504 units in the domestic market, a growth of 25 percent over 43,708 units in the year-ago period
According to Veejay Nakra, President, Automotive Division, M&M Ltd., “The month began on a fantastic note with Thar ROXX garnering 1.7 lakh bookings in the first 60 mins and the positive momentum continued across the SUV portfolio through the festive season.”
JSW MG Motor India on reported a 31 percent year-on-year rise in wholesales at 7,045 units in October 2024.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) reported a 41 percent rise in total sales of 30,845 units (including exports) in October as compared to 21,879 units in the same month last year. TKM Vice President, Sales-Service-Used Car Business, Sabari Manohar stated that the the company's entire range of product offerings has experienced “strong sales momentum” during the festive season.
Kia India delivered 28,545 units in October 2024, marking a 30 percent year-over-year growth compared to the 21,941 units delivered in October 2023.
Hardeep Singh Brar, Sr. VP and Head of Sales and Marketing stated, “Kia India is prioritizing accelerated vehicle deliveries to meet growing demand while working closely with our dealer partners to manage inventory with precision. By aligning swift delivery with smart inventory control, we ensured our customers receive the timely delivery of their vehicles, while our dealers benefit from streamlined, stable operations”
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