Everything official about it now. Tata Motors’s passenger vehicle division has closed CY2022 on a high. As reported previously on December 19 by Autocar Professional, the carmaker has notched its best-ever annual wholesales performance in CY2022: over half-a-million units.
The company today reported sale of 40,043 units in December, which takes the cumulative 12-month calendar year total to 526,798 units and constitutes average monthly sales of 43,899 units. The company, which retails seven PVs – Altroz, Tigor, Tiago, Nexon, Punch, Harrier and the Safari – in the domestic market, has capitalised on surging demand for its SUVs, particularly the Nexon and the Punch which are currently the best-selling and the No. 4 SUVs in the Indian market.
What has also helped Tata Motors’ accelerated growth is its first-mover advantage in the fast-growing electric vehicle market, where it has an over 80% market share. The company currently retails the Nexon EV, Tigor EV and Xpres-T (for fleet buyers) and has also recently launched the Tiago EV, whose deliveries are to begin in January. As per Autocar Professional’s estimates, Tata Motors has sold 41,538 EVs in CY2022, which accounts for 7.88% of the company’s total sales of 526,798 units. Year on year, the company has recorded 59% growth (see data table below).
In the company’s official statement, Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility said, “For Tata Motors passenger vehicles, CY22 has been a momentous year as we outpaced industry growth and crossed the distinctive milestone of 500,000 units comfortably to post wholesales of 526,798 units. Last quarter (Q3 FY23) was one of the best quarters for the PV industry with strong retails from new launches, robust festive demand, and adequate supply of vehicles. Tata Motors PV posted the highest ever quarterly and monthly retails in Q3 FY23 and December 2022, respectively. We also crossed the coveted 50,000 units of monthly retail for the first time.
He added, “Wholesales recorded in Q3 FY23 were of 131,297 units (growth of 32.6% vs Q3 FY22) and in December 22 of 40,043 units (growth of 13.4% vs December 2021) with the popular SUV range continuing to contribute to two-third of the sales volumes. EVs posted their highest ever sales in Q3 FY23 at 12,596 units (growth of 116.2%) and crossed the landmark cumulative sales milestone of 50,000 units. The Tiago.ev received a tremendous response post the bookings opening during the quarter; deliveries are to start in Jan 2023. Going forward, we expect the growth momentum for EVs to remain strong with their rising popularity and the announcement of progressive policies by several states. Overall, we expect the PV industry to continue witnessing robust demand in the next quarter. We intend to remain vigilant and closely monitor any possible impact on the supply side due to rising Covid cases globally.”
Well set for 500,000-plus sales in FY2023 too
With nine months of FY2023 over, Tata Motors is also well on track to achieve its targeted sales of 500,000 units including 50,000 EVs in the ongoing fiscal year. In the April-December 2022 period, it has recorded cumulative sales of 403,747 units including an estimated 32,443 EVs.
The recently launched Tiago EV, India’s first sub-Rs 10 lakh electric car, could provide the charge from January 2023, when deliveries are slated to begin. The carmaker is also making strong gains from sales to fleet operators with its XPres-T electric sedan for which it has received bookings for 23,000 units worth Rs 3,000 crore.
Given the market momentum it is witnessing, the company is also getting future-ready with manufacturing capacity. On January 10, it will complete Ford’s Sanand plant acquisition which will unlock an additional state of-the-art manufacturing capacity of 300,000 units per annum which is scalable to 420,000 units per annum.
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