Auto Wholesales in February 2023: YoY dispatches in green, sentiments look positive

New Delhi: The domestic vehicle dispatches in February were green and reflected an overall positive trend on a year-on-year basis.

Following the ease in production constraints, domestic wholesales of passenger vehicles (PVs) during February 2023 stands at about 3.35 lakh units, marking a growth of 10.6% over 3.03 lakh units dispatched in February last year. This was the highest sales volume for the segment during the month of February.

Retail sales of PVs stood at 3.01 lakh units as against 2.75 lakh units in February 2022, recording a YoY growth of 9.6%.

SUVs continue to garner a share of 42.6% in the domestic PV industry, followed by hatchbacks at 35%, MPVs at 8.5%.

For the April-February (2022-23) period, PV volumes in the industry stand at 35.5 lakh units, up 29% as compared to 27.4 lakh during the year-ago period.

Wholesales in the two wheeler segment saw an improvement owing to the low base of last year and demand from the wedding season. Commercial vehicles showcased healthy growth backed by consumer demand and tractors reported a double-digit growth owing to improving sentiments.

The following is a segment-wise report of vehicle dispatches during February 2023.

Passenger Vehicles

Market leader Maruti Suzuki reported a 10% growth in domestic sales. Mini cars (Alto, S-Presso) reported dispatches of 21,875 units in February 2023, as against 19,691 units in February last year. Sales volumes for compact cars (Baleno, Celerio, Dzire, Ignis, Swift, Tour S, WagonR) stood at 79,898 units, compared to 77,795 units last year.

Utility vehicle sales including the likes of Brezza, Ertiga, S-Cross, XL6, Grand Vitara reported an uptick at 33,550 units in February this year, an increase over 25,360 units in the corresponding month of last year. Sales volumes for the Eeco van also grew to 11,352 units, up from 9,190 units in February last year. However, sales for the mid-size Ciaz model declined to just 792 units, compared to 1,912 units in February last year.

“The shortage of electronic components had a minor impact on the production of vehicles, mainly in domestic models,” said the company in a statement.

Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer- Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India said that year-to-date (YTD), the company’s wholesales stand at 15.08 lakh units, a growth of 23% over 12.27 lakh in the April-February period of last fiscal.

Srivastava noted that there has been some impact on the demand for new cars due to an increase in interest rates by banks and other NBFCs. The carmaker currently has an order book of 3.69 lakh, including bookings of 94,000 units for Ertiga, 61,500 units for Brezza, and 37,000 units for Grand Vitara.

Maruti Suzuki stated that it has upgraded all its models to the upcoming RDE norms from April 1, except the Celerio, which is scheduled for next week.

Country’s second largest carmaker Hyundai Motor continued its run ahead of close competition from Tata Motors. The volume gap between the OEMs was almost 4,000 units for the month.

Veejay Nakra, President, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), said the company continues its trend of selling more than 30,000 SUVs per month. “We are monitoring and taking appropriate steps on the supply chain scenario of semiconductors, which continue to be dynamic”.

Kia, which has marked its place in the Top 5 OEMs, reported a YoY growth of 36%. Hardeep Singh Brar, National Head- Sales & Marketing, Kia India, said the company’s Sonet model has been the largest contributor to its sales in February, with 9,836 units. This was followed by Seltos at 8,012 units, Carens at 6,248 units and the Carnival at 504 units.

Yuichi Murata, Director- Marketing and Sales, Honda Cars India said, “Our sales performance in the month of February 2023 has been as per our plan towards seamless transition of our models to new emission norms.”

Starting April 1, 2023, the automotive industry is set to implement the BS-VI Stage-II norms with real driving emission (RDE) regulations.

MG Motor India monthly sales hovered around the 4,000-mark. The company noted that the supply situation of select variants of next-gen Hector is impacted.

Two Wheelers

“The volumes in the month of February indicate the continuously improving consumer sentiment and the company expects the positive trend to continue in the coming months, on the back of favorable economic indicators,” market leader Hero MotoCorp said in a statement.

Total motorcycle and scooter sales for the company stood at 371,854 and 22,606 units respectively.

Second largest two wheeler maker Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) reported a dip in wholesales compared to February last year. Even on a month-on-month basis, the company’s sales volumes dropped from 2.78 lakh in January 2023.

Interestingly, TVS Motor moved ahead of HMSI in total sales volumes (domestic + exports) for February 2023. TVS recorded 2.67 lakh units during the month while the latter reported 2.47 lakh.

TVS also said its iQube electric scooters recorded its highest ever sales of 15,522 units in February 2023 as against 2,238 units in February 2022.

Commercial Vehicles and Three Wheelers

Auto major Tata Motors reported YoY growth for passenger carriers which stood at 3,632 units in February 2023, as against 1,759 units in February last year. The company’s M&HCV category sales was also up, at 12,850 units compared to 10,233 units in February last year.

However, Tata’s sales volumes for I&LCV and SCV cargo and pickup dropped on a YoY basis.

Mahindra reported a YoY growth across the categories, barring the less than 2T LCV category, whose sales volumes dropped to 2,515 units in February 2023 from 4,048 units in February last year.

Three wheeler sales for the company (including electric) saw an uptick at 5,350 units, as compared to 3,812 units in February 2022.

Tractors

Improvement in consumer sentiments, healthy demand and better finance availability drove the tractor sales to clock a double-digit growth during February 2023.

Hemant Sikka, President – Farm Equipment Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra said, “Record Rabi crop acreage for wheat and oilseeds, high crop prices and better terms of trade for farmers is leading to positive sentiments in the rural markets. Expected higher Rabi output will improve liquidity in the hands of the farmers, supporting tractor demand. Water reservoir levels continue to remain high.”

(This is a developing story. We will keep updating as the OEMs release their sales data).

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