RBI's interest rate decision, macroeconomic data and global trends would dictate terms in the equity market in a holiday-shortened week, analysts said. Besides, the focus will also be on foreign portfolio investors' trading activity, they added. Equity markets will remain closed on Tuesday for 'Mahavir Jayanti' and on Friday on account of 'Good Friday'.
Passenger vehicle exports from India increased 43 per cent in FY22, with Maruti Suzuki India leading the segment with dispatches of over 2.3 lakh units, as per the latest data by industry body SIAM. The total passenger vehicle (PV) exports stood at 5,77,875 units in 2021-22 fiscal, as compared to 4,04,397 units in 2020-21. Passenger car shipments saw 42 per cent growth at 3,74,986 units, while utility vehicle exports rose 46 per cent at 2,01,036 units during the last fiscal, the data by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed.
'From data on enquiries, we can build what we call a data lake or a data warehouse where data is classified into various cohorts and then we use AI and ML tools to predict demand down the line.'
Domestic passenger vehicle sales could touch a record level of nearly 40 lakh units this year on strong demand and companies finding ways to enhance production despite semiconductor shortage, a senior Maruti Suzuki India official said on Monday. Even as the chip shortage issue has improved compared to a year back, the industry is estimated to have a pending order of around 7.5 lakh units of passenger vehicles with Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) alone having around 4.18 lakh units, company senior executive officer, marketing and sales, Shashank Srivastava told PTI. "I think it would be slightly below 4 million (units mark).
Equity benchmarks ended higher on Friday helped by buying in index major Reliance Industries along with fresh foreign fund inflows. Extending its previous day's rally, the 30-share BSE benchmark climbed 203.01 points or 0.34 per cent to settle at 59,959.85. During the day, it jumped 376.33 points or 0.62 per cent to 60,133.17.
Appellate tribunal NCLAT on Monday stayed the Rs 200 crore penalty imposed by the Competition Commission on Maruti Suzuki but directed the car maker to deposit 10 per cent of the total amount within three weeks. The amount has to be deposited with the Registrar of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). A three-member NCLAT bench stayed the demand notice issued on October 27 to the car maker, subject to the condition of depositing 10 per cent of the penalty amount.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor on Tuesday said it is recalling around 994 units of its recently launched mid-sized sports utility vehicle Urban Cruiser Hyryder to fix a faulty seat belt part. In a statement, the company said it has initiated a voluntary recall campaign for certain Urban Cruiser Hyryder units to investigate for a possible issue with front seat belt shoulder height adjuster plate assembly. Around 994 vehicles of the specified models may have been impacted by this concern, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) said in a statement.
Leading automakers Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai and Tata Motors reported a double-digit increase in dispatches to dealers in April as the demand remained robust especially for the sports utility vehicles. The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said its domestic passenger vehicle wholesales rose 13 per cent to 137,320 units last month as against 121,995 units in April 2022. Sales of mini cars, comprising Alto and S-Presso, fell 18 per cent to 14,110 units as compared with 17,137 units a year ago.
The new year will see a line of hatchbacks (including compact SUVs) hit the Indian roads. Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com offers a peek.
Developed at an investment of Rs 620 crore (Rs 6.2 billion), the most on a car by Maruti Suzuki, the Ciaz will also be exported to West Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America.
Hyundai got two stars for Grand i10 Nios and Kia got three stars for Seltos.
Maruti Suzuki India is eyeing a leadership position in the SUV segment as it continues to add new products across various sub segments, a top company official said on Wednesday. The country's largest carmaker has bolstered its presence in the high volume entry and mid level SUV segments with new Brezza and all new model -- Grand Vitara. "In every segment except SUV, we are the market leader by a distance. "It is only in the SUV that we are behind, so we need to catch up. Clearly, we have to become number one in the SUV space also," Maruti Suzuki India MD and CEO Hisashi Takeuchi said in an interaction on the sidelines of the global unveiling of Grand Vitara.
The K-shaped economic recovery in India from the pandemic slowdown shows in corporate results as well. The automobile sector, which represents big-ticket consumption, continues to do well and has increased its share in corporate revenues and profits while fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies that sell low-ticket consumer goods are struggling with poor sales and earnings growth. The share of the automobile sector, including makers of auto ancillaries, in corporate net sales rose to a 10-quarter high of 10.05 per cent during July-September 2023 (Q2FY24) from 8.94 per cent a year earlier and 9.75 per cent in Q1FY24.
Only five of India's top 20 car models have seen a reduction in wait times over the past year.
Investors' wealth climbed Rs 3.20 lakh crore as markets staged a smart comeback on Wednesday after falling in the last eight trading sessions. The BSE Sensex rallied 448.96 points or 0.76 per cent to settle at 59,411.08. During the day, it jumped 513.33 points or 0.87 per cent to 59,475.45.
A clutch of automakers including Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, Mercedes Benz India, Eicher Motors, TVS Motor, and Isuzu Motors India announced they had got the clearance from the governments of the states they operate in to resume operations.
High cost of acquisition due to a variety of reasons, including higher GST than all other major countries, is slowing down car demand in the country and unless the Centre and states take steps to reduce it, the industry is unlikely to experience reasonable growth, according to Maruti Suzuki India Chairman R C Bhargava. Addressing shareholders in the company's Annual Report for 2020-21, he said after the devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic hitting the first quarter of FY22, the performance in the next three quarters will largely depend on how effectively people get vaccinated and observe safety protocols.
A new era of Indian equity market outperformance compared to China "appears to be dawning", according to Morgan Stanley. The firm has upgraded India to overweight in its Asia Pacific-excluding Japan (APxJ) list, making it their most preferred market not only in the region but also in the global emerging market (GEM) pack. India now holds the top position in this category, with an overweight of 75 basis points, a significant increase from nil previously.
With sentiment for the automotive (auto) sector turning positive, stocks of two-wheeler auto majors have been hitting their 52-week highs. Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor Company, and Eicher Motors recently reached their yearly highs on strong sales in the festival season and the expectation of faster growth rates ahead. Since the start of this month, listed two-wheeler majors have delivered returns in the 12-17 per cent range, compared to the 7 per cent gains for the S&P BSE Auto Index and 3 per cent for the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex.
'Interim Budget has ignited the entrepreneurial spirit.'
The new model, which is based on the company's fifth generation HEARTECT platform, comes with a BS-VI compliant one-litre petrol engine with a claimed fuel efficiency of 21.7 km per litre.
The company, whose arm Maruti Suzuki is the largest passenger vehicles maker in India, asserted that it does not align with any political or religious inclination in any part of the world.
Suzuki chief Osamu Suzuki, on a visit to India, said that the companies would not only expand operations and production in the domestic market but gradually use it as a base for exports to other regions, primarily Europe.
Even as the slowdown in the information technology (IT) services sector deepens, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), as well as oil and gas companies, emerge as the primary drivers of corporate earnings in the country. The IT services sector's share in corporate earnings declined to a five-year low of 17.4 per cent in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023-24 (FY24), whereas banks and finance companies accounted for 46.5 per cent, and oil and gas firms contributed 16.8 per cent. At their peak, IT services firms like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, HCLTech, and Wipro represented just over a third of the combined net profit of all listed companies in the Business Standard sample.
MSI will inspect certain WagonR models for a possible issue of fuel hose fouling with metal clamp.
India's corporate sector is likely to report a slowdown in revenue growth and earnings for the July-September 2023 period (Q2FY24), according to earnings estimates by brokerages, after the country's top listed companies posted higher than expected profits for the first quarter. The combined net profit of Nifty50 companies, based on brokerage estimates, is expected to have grown by 19.6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 1.75 trillion in Q2FY24 - a sharp deceleration from 37.6 per cent Y-o-Y growth in the combined earnings of index companies in the April-June 2023 period. According to estimates, the combined earnings in the second quarter would be down 8.8 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) basis and the lowest in the past three quarters.
Indian automakers dispatched nearly 2.92 lakh passenger vehicles, the highest ever for February so far, driven by strong demand for cars and utility vehicles, industry body SIAM said on Friday. The total passenger vehicle dispatches from companies to dealers last month increased 11 per cent to 2,91,928 units from 2,62,984 units in February 2022. Passenger car sales rose to 1,42,201 units in February against 1,33,572 units in the year-ago period.
Maruti Suzukisaid it was trying to offer more factory-fitted CNG cars to address environmental concerns
Amid better semiconductor chip supplies, the Indian automotive industry posted an 8 percent growth in production of vehicles across categories for the month of May, with three-wheelers (20 per cent) and passenger vehicles (16 per cent) leading the pack. Exports, however, dipped 21 per cent at an industry level. The industry also recorded its highest-ever May wholesales of domestic passenger vehicles (334,802 units), riding on high demand for sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and better supplies of semiconductor chips.
The previous May peak was observed in 2018 when the domestic PV wholesales stood at 301,238 units.
The regulatory burden is the highest on small cars, a key segment of the Indian automobile industry and having a uniform tax structure across all segments of vehicles will not augur well for the sector growth, according to Maruti Suzuki India chairman RC Bhargava. He also said India's economic growth rate could be higher if the manufacturing sector grows fast, which 'unfortunately' has remained a laggard despite the best efforts of the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre due to implementation gaps at the ground level. "The burden of regulatory changes on the small cars is far higher than the regulatory burden on big cars and that is changing the whole market behaviour.
Automobile manufacturers are likely to report strong numbers for the September quarter of Financial Year 2023-24 (Q2 FY24), riding on growth across segments and offset by a marginal drop in overall two-wheeler (2W) volumes. Higher average selling price (ASP) year-on-year (YoY), which was necessitated by price hikes taken by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and an improved product mix will also aid revenues and margins. Moreover, commodity prices are down on a YoY basis, leading to higher margins in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda).
The company, which currently sells a range of vehicles from Alto to S-Cross, said it has taken the decision to hike prices due to an increase in input costs. The weighted average price rise, with effect from April 18, in ex-showroom prices (New Delhi) across models is 1.3 per cent, it added.
The e-SURVIVOR symbolises Maruti Suzuki's commitment to help develop the entire life cycle of EVs in India
The Q1FY24 earnings season has started on a dismal note for corporate India. The early-bird companies' revenue growth has been at a 10-quarter low, while the combined earnings of non-BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance) companies seem to have hit the ceiling. The numbers suggest corporate India is entirely dependent on BFSI companies and the IT services sector to drive growth in revenue and profit while other sectors are showing signs of stagnation.
Watch the flash mob that take over Auto Expo 2018.
Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) does not anticipate growth in the small car segment because people continue to find these vehicles unaffordable, chairman R C Bhargava said on Wednesday. He said the market had clearly shifted towards the sport utility vehicle (SUV) segment and the company will go in the same direction. The domestic sales of utility vehicles jumped in India by 34.54 per cent to about 2 million units in FY23.
Supply chain constraints will keep plaguing automobile companies even though demand significantly improved resulting in a 13 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in sales in financial year 2021-22 (FY22). Executives at auto firms fear that the Russia-Ukraine war will further dent the sector's prospects of recovery as supply chains face more disruptions. "The visibility in the supply side is so hazy that it is difficult to give even one quarter projection. But all the parameters of demand like pending bookings and enquiries are increasing.
Auto industry volumes have grown by 2.5 per cent overall, led by domestic sales of three-wheelers, two-wheelers and passenger vehicles (PVs) in the first quarter of this financial year. Analysts predict an 18 per cent growth in revenues for automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and profit growth of 69 per cent year-on-year (YoY). However, on a sequential basis, a decline in revenues as well as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) margins is expected.
Japanese auto major Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) on Wednesday said its long-serving chairman Osamu Suzuki will retire and assume the role of senior advisor subject to shareholders' approval in the ordinary general meeting to be held in June this year.