Auto sales sees robust growth in October

Auto retail for the month of October 2022 saw an overall growth of 48 pc. With most of the month under festive period, the sentiments were extremely positive across all categories of dealership outlets.

In the backdrop of festive season, automobile sales witnessed robust growth as total sales went up by 48 per cent in the month of October 2022 as compared to the same period last year. Commenting on it, FADA President, Mr. Manish Raj Singhania said, “Auto retail for the month of October 2022 saw an overall growth of 48 pc. With most of the month under festive period, the sentiments were extremely positive across all categories of dealership outlets.”

Passenger Vehicles

The festive month brought cheers to the industry as for the first-time customers of every category came out in good numbers and took part in festive purchases thus making it the best in last four years. As anticipated earlier, PV segment showed a growth of 41 per cent Year-on-Year with total sales at 328,645 units in October 2022 as against 233,822 units in the same month last year. The segment continues to see extremely high demand especially in SUV and compact SUV segments including higher variants in most of the product categories. While the PV segment continues to outperform, demand in entry level segment continues to show some softness.

MG Motor announced retail sales of 4367 units in October 2022, a growth of 53 pc over the same month last year. Nissan Motor India witnessed cumulative wholesales of 10,011 units in the month of October 2022, with cumulative wholesale YTD growth stood at 22 per cent as compared to the same period last year.

Mr Rakesh Srivastava, MD, Nissan Motor India, said, “Festive season has strong momentum of increased number of deliveries, with customer preference for early delivery and ease of finance. Preference of customers was for SUVs specially amongst the first time and replacement buyers.”

Maruti Suzuki India sold a total of 167,520 units in October 2022 as against 138,335 units recorded in October 2021, growth of 21 per cent. Kia India recorded sale of 23,323 units in October 2022, growing by 43 pc YoY. The month also witnessed the commencement of deliveries to customers of Kia’s first electric vehicle in the Indian market – the EV6. TKM sold a total of 13,143 units in the month of October 2022 as against 12,440 units in the month of October 2021, thereby registering growth of 6 per cent.

Commenting on the month’s performance, Mr Atul Sood, Associate V-P, Sales, and Strategic Marketing, TKM said, “Demand continues to grow as we witness strong bookings for the self charging hybrid electric model – Urban Cruiser Hyryder.” 

Honda Cars India (HCIL) registered monthly domestic sales of 9,543 units in October 2022 with 18 per cent growth over the corresponding month last year. The company had registered 8,108 units in domestic sales in October 2021.

Commercial Vehicles

The commercial vehicles segment continues to come back on track by growing 25 per cent year-on-year. Festivities ignited better fleet sales with mining and infrastructure projects increasing in various regions, demand has been keeping well and is also coming back on track. The segment is anticipated to see continued demand due to rising infra projects and government spending.

The market leader in the CV segment, Tata Motors reported domestic sales at 27,467, growing by just 4.7 per cent. The company sold 26,236 units in the same month last year. Its sales in the passenger carrier category reported the highest YoY growth to 1,759 units in October this year, up from 958 units in the year-ago period. However, a major portion of its sales that come from SCV cargo and pickup dropped 8 per cent YoY to 15,618 units in October 2022, from 17,025 units in October last year.

For October 2022, Mahindra & Mahindra reported sales of 20,083 units as against 10,324 units recorded in the same month last year. The company’s sales grew by a massive 95 pc in the festive month. Ashok Leyland dispatched 12,077 units last month as against 8,139 units sold in the same month last year, registering growth of 48.4 pc. Volvo Eicher CV sold 4,937 units in October 2022 as against 4,086 units in the corresponding month last year, growing by over 21 per cent.

Three-Wheelers

The three-wheeler segment showed a massive growth of 66 per cent as compared to the year ago period. The sub-category figures clearly show that shift is happening towards EV adoption while ICE vehicles are no more favourites. In few pockets due to permit issues, new vehicle sales have taken a hit during the month.

Bajaj Auto recorded sales of 23,808 units in October 2022 as against 14,905 units sold in the year ago period, growing by over 60 per cent. Likewise, Mahindra & Mahindra sold 2393 units in Oct 2022 as against 1285 units in the corresponding month last year. The company witnessed growth of 0.87 pc.

Two-Wheelers

The two-wheeler segment showed a huge growth of 51 per cent YoY and for the first time. With both Navratri and Deepawali majorly falling in a single month, the month of October saw double foot fall at Dealerships. Dealers say that sentiments have also started improving at the rural level but the same needs to sustain for at least next 3-4 months. Apart from this, new launches and good customer schemes also played a pivotal role in helping revival in demand.

Among two-wheeler OEMs, Hero MotoCorp’s sales went up by 60.5 per cent in October 2022 with company recording sales of 507,587 units as against 316,159 units sold in October 2021. Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India sold 410,580 units last month as against 275,116 units sold in the same month last year. The company’s sales went up by 49.24 per cent.

Similarly, TVS Motor sold 249,671 units in October 2022 as against 161,127 units sold in the same month last year, registering growth of 55 pc. In the same tune, Bajaj Auto sold 150,684 units last month as against selling 122,536 units in the same month last year, up by 23 per cent YoY. Yamaha sold 48,510 units in October 2022, a growth of 20.5 pc. The company sold 40,259 units in October 2021.