India’s leading carmakers reported their best-ever monthly sales in the local market growing volumes by more than 13% to 394,571 units in January as dealers filed in inventories depleted during year-end sales.
Prior to this, passenger vehicle sales had peaked at 391,811 units in October 2023. Industry volumes were buoyed by market leaders Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India and Tata Motors who wired robust sales last month.
Maruti Suzuki sold 166,802 units last month – an increase of 13% over the year-ago period. “Industry stocks were low at the start of the month which prompted dealers to restock. While demand parameters are stable, February onwards we will see the direction the market is moving”, Shashank Srivastava, senior executive officer (marketing and sales) at Maruti Suzuki told ET.
Hyundai Motor India grew dispatches by 14% to sell a record 57,115 units in January. Tarun Garg, COO, Hyundai Motor India said, “Hyundai Motor India has begun 2024 on a rousing note achieving its highest ever monthly domestic sales of 57 115 units with 14% growth over same period last year.”
This growth has been fuelled by strong customer response to the newly launched Hyundai CRETA, which has garnered close to 50 000 bookings within a month of the booking open announcement.
At Tata Motors while sales increased by 12% to 53,633 units in the month under review, Mahindra saw volumes rising by 30% to 43,068 units. Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) also saw best-ever monthly sales of 23,197 units in January. Honda Cars India grew sales by 11% to sell 8,681 units in this period.
Yuichi Murata, Director of Marketing and Sales at Honda Cars India, said, “Entering the new year, our models have consistently contributed to our sales volume, reflecting a positive demand for our lineup.
Hyundai Motor India’s Garg is “cautiously optimistic” about the momentum in the auto industry continuing in 2024.
Two-wheelers continued to post healthy growth with Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India reporting a growth of 38% to sell 382,512 units in the local market last month. TVS Motor Company too saw volumes rise 24% to 268,233 units in January.
In the commercial vehicle segment, sales were subdued with market leader Tata Motors selling 30,643 units last month, which is a decline of 3% over 31,694 units sold in the same period a year earlier.
In the farm equipment sector too, Mahindra Tractors reported a decline of 17% to sell 22,972 units in January. Hemant Sikka, President – Farm Equipment Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra said “Retail momentum slowed down on account of tapering of agricultural activities. Rabi crop output is expected to be good with prevailing l cold conditions helping the key crop of wheat. Government announcement of a good estimate of Horticulture production, and continued government support to boost rural economy will aid positive sentiments and support tractor demand in the coming months.”
