With gradual improvement in the semiconductor supplies, demand in rural areas, new product launches and growing trend for SUVs, passenger vehicles (PVs) clocked the best ever domestic dispatches for May this year.
Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki, noted that May 2023 was the best monthly dispatches ever. The previous high was in May 2018-19 with wholesales of 3.10 lakh units.
The two-wheeler segment which has been under pressure for a long while now, has also shown green shoots owing to the replacement demand and wedding season. The following is a segment-wise report of vehicle dispatches to dealers during May 2023.
Passenger Vehicles: According to industry estimates, the domestic PV sales volumes during May 2023 marked a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 13.5% and stood at 3.35 lakh units, as against 2.95 lakh units in the year-ago period.
Maruti Suzuki reported over 15% growth in domestic sales during the month. Its sales of mini cars, including Alto and S-Presso, dipped 30% to 12,236 units as compared with 17,408 units in the year ago period. Compact cars sales, including models such as Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire, increased 5% to 71,419 units as against 67,947 units in May 2022.
The company’s utility vehicle sales, including Brezza, Ertiga, Fronx, Grand Vitara, S-Cross, XL6, grew 65% to 46,243 units as against 28,051 vehicles in the corresponding month last year. Srivastava said that the retail volumes in the industry were less than wholesale for the second consecutive month where retail were at 3.25 lakh units. But when compared with May 2022, it marked a growth of about 14% over 2.85 lakh units.
He expects the retail volumes to lag behind the wholesale. “Due to semiconductor issues for the past few years the channel inventory was being limited. So, as the situation normalizes and production becomes better, there will be an increase in the network stock.”
The PV channel inventory is at about 26 days in the industry, which is still slightly less than 30 days, which used to be during the pre-COVID. So until it reaches this, wholesale is expected to exceed the retail. As the semiconductor situation gets better and we see availability of popular models, retail is also likely to boost, he said.
Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd. (NMIPL) has announced wholesales of 4631 units for the month of May 2023. Domestic wholesales stood at 2618 units, while export wholesales stood at 2013 units. Domestic sales have grown YOY for the month of May at 23% and cumulative YTD domestic sales have also grown by 23% as compared to FY22.
Rakesh Srivastava, Managing Director, Nissan Motor India, commented, “The positive momentum continues with a growth of 23% on the strength of strong demand for Nissan Magnite. The introduction of Nissan Magnite Special Edition GEZA with an attractive value proposition at a very competitive price positioning has strengthened the brand Magnite.”
Veejay Nakra, President, Automotive Division, M&M said, “We continue our growth trend, backed by strong demand in SUVs. The sales volume for both SUVs and Pik-Ups were restricted by a short-term disruption in engine-related parts at the supplier end. The semiconductor supply constraints on specific parts like Air Bag ECU, continued during the month too.”
Hardeep Singh Brar, National Head, Sales & Marketing, Kia India said, “Although we faced some production limitations due to our plant annual maintenance shutdown for a week in May which impacted our numbers, we are confident of strong performance in coming months. We are witnessing a growing demand for our latest technology innovation – iMT range. This month, iMT has contributed to 38% of our total sales. While Sonet emerged on the top with 8251 units, Carens and Seltos continued to drive our growth to 19% YTD.”
Commenting on the sales Mr. Atul Sood, Vice President of Sales and Strategic Marketing at Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “Toyota Kirloskar Motor has scaled a new high by reporting the highest monthly sales performance of 20,410 units. As we look forward, given the sustained momentum , we continue to be optimistic for the rest of the year by prioritising the customers’ needs. We believe that the strong upward trajectory, highlights the company’s customer alignment and ever-growing product popularity with the latest launches like Urban Cruiser Hyryder, Innova Hycross and the Hilux that continue to support the strong sales momentum in their respective segments. The popularity of Hilux, in particular, continues to grow and exhilarate customers all over India, thanks to its versatility and robust performance.”
Honda Cars India registered 4,660 units of domestic sales in May 2023. Mr. Yuichi Murata, Director, Marketing and Sales, Honda Cars India Ltd said, “Our sales for the month of May’23 was in line with our plan. The Amaze and City continued to perform well and get strong customer preference. Along with this, we are gearing up for the world premiere of our upcoming new SUV model Honda Elevate. The new Honda SUV is garnering a lot of attention in the market from the customers across our network and platforms. We are confident that it will be well received by the consumers.”
Two Wheelers: Country’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp sold a total of 4.89 lakh motorcycles and over 30,000 scooters in May 2023. “The momentum is expected to continue in the coming months, driven by an uptick in customer sentiments, forecast of normal monsoon and a host of new launches in the premium segment,” a statement said.
Commercial Vehicles and Three Wheelers: Auto major Tata Motors reported a 12% dip in domestic sales during the month.
Tata Motors sales in the domestic & international market for May 2023 stood at 74,973 vehicles, compared to 76,210 units during May 2022. Domestic sales of MH&ICV in May 2023, including trucks and buses, stood at 11,442 units, compared to 12,056 units in May 2022. Total sales for MH&ICV Domestic & International Business in May 2023, including trucks and buses, stood at 11,958 units compared to 12,810 units in May 2022.
Tractors: Hemant Sikka, President – Farm Equipment Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. said, “We have sold 33,113 tractors in the domestic market during May ’23. Record high Rabi crop output, good reservoir levels, improved terms of trade for farmers and IMD’s prediction of a normal southwest monsoon, augurs well for the upcoming Kharif season. In the exports market, we have sold 1,013 tractors.”
“Overall, the macroeconomic factors and farmer sentiments remain positive, resulting in a positive sales trend across most geographies. Going forward, we expect the current momentum to continue in the near term led by normal rainfall forecast, adequate reservoir levels, better liquidity, and consumer credit availability,” Escorts Kubota said in a statement.
