Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest passenger vehicle maker, reported a surge in wholesales in September, aided by a strong demand for its mini and compact cars, while others like motorcycle maker Bajaj Auto, too, saw sales grow as personal mobility gains traction amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Total sales at Maruti Suzuki rose 31 per cent in September to 160,442 units from 122,640 units a year ago. While sales of its mini cars (Alto and S-Presso) jumped 36 per cent year-on-year, sales of compacts (WagonR, Swift, Baleno, Dzire etc) accelerated 47 per cent. Maruti’s Utility Vehicle sales also grew 10 per cent from a year ago. However, sales of its mid-size sedan Ciaz declined over 10 per cent.
Elsewhere, homegrown Mahindra and Mahindra’s passenger vehicle sales rose 4 per cent from a year ago to 14,857 units from 14,333 units. However, total sales still tumbled 17 per cent to 35,920 units from 43,343 units as exports plunged 41 per cent and three-wheeler sales were down 92 per cent. Overall, commercial vehicle sales at M&M only slightly rose at 18,907 units from 18,872 units.
“It is encouraging to see that the enquiry and booking levels in September were significantly higher compared to the previous months, both for UVs and SCVs. With market sentiments indicating a robust festive demand across segments, both in rural and urban markets, we are positive that this festive season will augur well for us as well as the automotive industry,” said Veejay Nakra, CEO, Automotive Division at M&M.
Tractor sales saw a strong momentum in September. Total farm equipment sales for Mahindra were up 17 per cent to 43,386 units from 37,011 units. While domestic farm equipment sales gained 18 per cent, exports rose 6 per cent.
Meanwhile, Toyota Kirloskar Motor sold 8,116 units in September. While this number was 46 per cent higher than Toyota’s wholesales in August, it was still over 20 per cent lower than a year ago. In September 2019, the company had sold 10,203 units in the domestic market and had exported 708 units of the Etios, which was discontinued from April.
“We are seeing demand pick-up and a lot more confidence in our dealers... September has been our best month so far, ever since the pandemic hit us in March 2020. Factors leading to this can be attributed to the pent up demand among customers as well as the onset of the festive season,” said Naveen Soni, senior vice-president, sales and service at Toyota Kirloskar.
Sales at Bajaj Auto, the maker of Pulsar motorcycles, saw total sales rise 10 per cent from a year ago to 441,306 units from 402,035 units. Its two-wheeler sales accelerated 20 per cent to 404,851 units, with exports growing 16 per cent to 185,351 units, its highest ever. However, commercial vehicle sales at Bajaj Auto declined 44 per cent.
Typically, the period of Shradh (September 2 to September 16, 2020) is considered inauspicious. Despite this, analysts say demand has been picking up and companies have utilised this period to refill inventory in the system.
“Sustained demand recovery was seen owing to a growing preference for personal vehicles, high disposable incomes in the rural markets and improving recovery in the urban markets. Utilisation levels improved on a month-on-month basis at most OEM (original equipment makers) plants in September,” said Jinesh Gandhi, research analyst at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
