Bajaj Finserv was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 3 per cent, followed by Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance, L&T, Asian Paints, Dr Reddy's, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and RIL. NSE Nifty finished 101.45 points down at 14,929.50.
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.
Maruti Suzuki India and Hyundai reported single-digit sales growth in July with the sports utility segment continuing to drive overall demand in the market. Mahindra & Mahindra witnessed a 29 per cent increase in passenger vehicle dispatches while Tata Motors saw a marginal increase in the wholesales last month. Maruti Suzuki on Tuesday said its total domestic passenger vehicle sales stood at 152,126 units last month as compared to 142,850 units in the year-ago month, a growth of 6 per cent.
Even though electric two wheeler (e2W) companies saw a slight recovery in July of 12 per cent with 49,518 registrations - after a wash out in June because the government slashed the FAME 2 subsidy by a third - registrations are still lower for the second month in a row compared to April FY24. The slow pace has raised doubts about whether the registrations will reach anywhere near either Niti Aayog's ambitious target of 2.4 million vehicles in FY24 or whether they will be closer to the trimmed down industry expectation of around one million. In June, e2W registrations plunged to a mere 44,253, the worst month in more than a year, as companies hiked scooter prices.
A major fire broke out in Britannia Industries' Pantnagar manufacturing plant on Sunday destroying thousands of tons of biscuits. However, no one was killed or injured in the fire which broke out around 1230 hours in the biscuit division of the factory, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Udhamsingh Nagar (district) Manjunath T C told Business Standard after the firefighters put the fire out. "With the help of 15-20 fire tenders, we were able to control the fire which was very major," Manjunath said.
The previous May peak was observed in 2018 when the domestic PV wholesales stood at 301,238 units.
SBI was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting over 2 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, Nestle India, IndusInd Bank, M&M, Bajaj Auto and Maruti. NSE Nifty advanced 135.55 points to 14,819.05.
Infosys was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, jumping over 4 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, ITC, Maruti, SBI and Axis Bank. On the other hand, HCL Tech, M&M, Dr Reddy's, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto and Bharti Airtel were among the laggards.
Kotak Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, falling over 4 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, ONGC, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Auto and Reliance Industries.
In doing so, Bajaj has become the first internal combustion engine two-wheeler company to launch an all-electric two-wheeler in India.
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).
Ford, which had announced to quit the Indian market last year, said it was exploring the possibility of using one of its plants in India to produce electric cars for exports.
M&M was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 7 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Hero MotoCorp, RIL, Titan and Bajaj Auto. On the other hand, ONGC, Tech Mahindra, PowerGrid, Infosys and Kotak Bank were among the laggards.
Stung by the government's punitive action on electric two-wheelers, registrations in April fell by nearly a fourth to 62,581 from 82,292 in March, according to data from VAHAN. Electric two-wheeler companies, including Okinawa, Hero Electric, Ather Energy, and TVS, have all clocked their lowest registrations in the four months of this calendar year. Ola Electric has been the only exception to this bloodbath, and has crossed its March numbers, hitting 21,560 registrations in April, which is its highest in this calendar year. As a result, there have been some interesting changes in the electric two-wheeler pecking order.
'We haven't flattened the infection curve, we may have merely smoothened it temporarily.'
Automotive retail sales saw a 14 per cent rise in March on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, according to data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA). For the whole of financial year 2022-23 (FY23), sales grew 21 per cent YoY. For both March and the financial year, all categories, except for tractors, and including two-wheelers, three-wheelers, passenger vehicles (PVs), and commercial vehicles (CVs), posted double-digit growth. However, the total retail sales of 22.1 million for the financial year were still 12 per cent lower than the pre-Covid (FY20) level of 25 million, owing to an 18 per cent dip in the two-wheeler segment.
Eicher Motors is a leader in the premium motorcycle segment, where it holds market share of over 85 per cent under the Royal Enfield (RE) brand. The company's joint venture VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) with Volvo, where it holds 54.5 per cent stake, gives it a strong footing in commercial vehicles (CVs). The company had good results in FY23 and it has a strong balance sheet and good operating margins.
Top losers in the Sensex pack included SBI, HDFC twins, Bajaj Auto, ONGC and Tata Steel, falling up to 2.49 per cent.
The Bajaj Pulsar 150 classic is Rs 10,118 cheaper than the standard Pulsar 150.
Everything you wanted to know about the country's oldest two- and three-wheeler manufacturer and more.
Bajaj Auto fears adverse impact on its exclusive loan deal with Bajaj Finance
ITC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, slipping over 3 per cent, followed by Maruti, Infosys, NTPC, HCL Tech and Tata Steel. NSE Nifty shed 63.20 points to close at 18,114.90.
'Rahul inspired Indian industry with an ethos, an ethos of being more confident, more independent, more thorough, more competitive, more generous, more public-spirited, and more national and more international all at once,' remembers Naushad Forbes.
Bajaj Auto on Monday unveiled a 150 cc bike 'V', which contains metal from India's first aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
Auto sales in April have started showing the impact of lockdowns that has put the brakes on the recovery of the sector, a report said on Tuesday. With more states announcing lockdowns and some more OEMs expecting to go for maintenance shutdowns, as many as 50 per cent of the dealers are likely to be impacted by the move, it added. However, the full-year prospects remain positive if the COVID wave recedes in the April quarter and the vaccination drive goes as planned, brokerage firm Centrum said in the report.
ONGC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, jumping over 5 per cent, followed by Bajaj Auto, ITC, Sun Pharma, Nestle India, L&T, Maruti, UltraTech Cement and HUL. On the other hand, Infosys, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, TCS and Titan were among the laggards.
The limited availability of flexible (flex)-fuel vehicles in the Indian market and the slow rollout of ethanol-blended petrol by oil-marketing companies (OMCs) remain major obstacles to achieving widespread use of biofuels in the transportation sector in India. Recently, two Union ministers have emphasised India's biofuel potential, arguing that it has the capacity and potential to lead a transition towards widespread biofuel adoption. Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari signalled that this transition is well underway and urged car manufacturers to quickly adapt and introduce new biofuel-run vehicles, lest the government resort to taxing diesel vehicles.
Automobile retail sales in India rose 11 per cent in September as better supplies from manufacturers enabled dealers to ramp up customer deliveries amid the ongoing festive period, Federation Of Automobile Dealers Associations said on Tuesday. Last month, total retail sales stood at 14,64,001 units as compared to 13,19,647 units in September 2021. FADA noted that October is expected to witness even better overall sales due to the festive season further gathering steam.
Analysts tracking listed companies like Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors have said sales forecast for the two-wheeler industry for the next few months looks very bleak as spiralling input costs, high lending rates and reducing availability of finance will put brakes on sales growth. ICICI Bank's has already withdrawn from advancing loans at two-wheeler dealerships.
Bajaj Auto's new four-wheeled people-carrier might well create an entirely new category.
India's largest two-wheeler maker by volume - Hero MotoCorp (Hero) - posted a better-than-expected operating performance in the January-March (fourth quarter, or Q4) quarter of 2022-23 (FY23). Riding on higher average selling prices which were up 5 per cent year-on-year (YoY) and volume growth of 7 per cent, the company registered a 12 per cent growth in revenue to Rs 8,306 crore. The company sold 127,000 units in the quarter, largely driven by domestic sales which were up 11.6 per cent, while exports saw a sharp fall of 57 per cent over the year-ago quarter.
With a new chief executive officer (CEO) at the helm, the country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp is now looking to cut flab and move towards a leaner organisation. It has launched a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for its staff as it aims to make the organisation 'agile and future-ready'. Recently, the company's erstwhile chief financial officer (CFO) Niranjan Gupta was elevated as CEO.
Yes Bank was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack in absolute terms, cracking 12.85 per cent, after the company reported a massive 92.44 per cent slump in consolidated net profit to Rs 95.56 crore. ONGC, Tata Motors, M&M, Maruti, Vedanta, Bajaj Auto, TCS, SBI and HCL Tech lost up to 4.24 per cent.
ONGC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 5 per cent, followed by SBI, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto and Maruti. On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, HUL, Dr Reddy's, NTPC and Reliance Industries were among the gainers.
Corporate India continues to be generous in rewarding its shareholders with big dividend payouts. This is especially true for shareholders of companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Hindustan Zinc (HZL), and Coal India (CIL) which are seen as cash cows of large business groups and the government. Boosted by a big payout by these three companies, the combined equity dividend payout by listed companies was up 38 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to a record high of Rs 2.27 trillion in 2022-23 (FY23), compared with Rs 1.65 trillion in 2021-22 (FY22).
After taking Bajaj Auto's number three spot recently, TVS Motor is planning a product offensive to continue growth in volumes.
After taking Bajaj Auto's number three spot recently, TVS Motor is planning a product offensive to continue growth in volumes.
The 30-share BSE benchmark jumped 533.74 points or 0.91 per cent to 59,299.32. During the day, it zoomed 783.24 points to 59,548.82.
Bajaj Auto has realigned its Discover line-up to reduce confusion and boost market share, says Faisal Ali Khan of MotorBeam.com
After a very weak December quarter and a poor year-to-date fiscal year volumes-when sales plunged to the lowest in nine years, the signs in the first 15 days of January haven't been encouraging either. "Though the severity of the current wave is not as high as the previous one, it has hit the sentiments hard impacting conversion of enquiries into sales," said Vinkesh Gulati, president, Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA).
