While Maruti recorded negative sales, Hyundai gained marginally.
Absence of diesel options, economic slowdown hurt sales
General Motors, Nissan Motor India and Volkswagen managed to ride the tide with new launches.
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.
While the country's largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India, said its car will become costly by two per cent, Hyundai Motor India said it will result in a price rise of Rs 6,500-25,000 on average.
The government seems to have come to the rescue of potential car buyers.
Automobile component manufacturers are rejoicing over a sudden 30-40 per cent spurt in demand in February. Analysts are, however, not entirely sure of the reason for this high growth; many are doubtful if it can be sustained, given the other gloomy signals. An analyst says, "Almost all car makers have either completely withdrawn or drastically reduced their promotional offers." Also, payment issues as far as vendors are concerned remains a problem.
The new year has brought good news for almost all car manufacturers, with market leader Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motors, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, General Motors and even Fiat, posting their highest monthly sales since their inception.
Issues relating to shortage of key automotive components, which were supposed to be sorted out a month ago, will hit production even for the next two quarters, as slow ramp-up and discrepancies in tyre prices impact output.
Last month, nine leading vehicle manufacturers sold 213,633 units, 25.8 per cent more than last year.
The concept of the rally organised by Hyundai was to promote fuel efficient driving habits among its customers.
Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) - the market leader in small cars - is eyeing the top spot in the sports utility vehicle (SUV) segment within a year - with a 33 per cent share of the pie. The company has been selling two SUVs - the Brezza and the Grand Vitara - and will start deliveries of the Jimny and the Fronx from March-end, and has set a target of growing its share from the current 11.5 per cent of the SUV market to 33 per cent by the end of 2023-24. The SUV segment is roughly about 42 per cent of the total passenger vehicle market, or around 1.3 million units.
Maruti Suzuki India and Tata Motors reported decline in sales during June this year.
Auto Expo 2023 may not trigger a fresh rally in automobile stocks, say analysts, as this year's edition lacks participation from major listed players. It is also owing to the focus on electric vehicles (EVs), a segment where four-wheelers have minuscule market share. "In the passenger vehicles (PV) segment, Maruti Suzuki India and Tata Motors are the only listed players.
Maruti Suzuki India said its domestic sales rose 10.6 per cent in May.
Automakers Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Kia reported robust growth in their vehicle dispatches in the domestic market for August buoyed by festive demand and easing of semiconductor shortage woes. Other manufacturers like Hyundai, Toyota and Skoda also reported growth in wholesales in August as compared with the same month last year. The country's largest automaker Maruti Suzuki India said its domestic passenger vehicle dispatches increased by 30 per cent to 134,166 units in August as compared with 103,187 units in the year-ago month.
Passenger vehicle dispatches from factories to dealers in India fell 8 per cent in January, mainly due to semiconductor shortage, auto industry body SIAM said on Friday. The total passenger vehicle wholesales dropped to 254,287 units in January 2022 as compared to 276,554 units in the same month of last year. Last month, passenger car dispatches stood at 126,693 units as compared to 153,244 units in the year-ago period. Similarly, van dispatches declined to 10,632 units in the period under review from 11,816 units in January 2021.
The Indian made Polo has a competitive price and suits the demands of many markets in South East Asia and Africa.
After years of giving free passes to counterparts from Korea, Japan, US in the Indian auto market, Chinese automakers had planned a major push to grab the fifth largest car market in the world. But the shutdown of factories and logistics hubs in the country following the outbreak of coronavirus is slowly constricting the business of Chinese auto majors which have recently entered India.
Car maker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd on Monday reported a 15.75 per cent jump in the total sales in May at 79,872 units as against 69,001 units in the same month last year.
The muted expectation of dealers come at a time when vehicle manufacturers such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor, Mahindra & Mahindra and others reported a double-digit fall in wholesale dispatches to dealerships in July and August.
As it is with all Hyundais, the quality of the materials used is good and the cabin feels premium, practical and well put together.
Automakers in India posted their worst growth in recent times in May 2011.
Maruti and Hyundai see marginal rise in demand for entry-level hatchbacks.
Of the 15 car manufacturing companies in India, eight have a market share of below 2 per cent, raising questions about their long-term future in a competitive market that has already seen Ford Motors and General Motors slam the door on India.
'Some of the launches may get deferred due to the semiconductor shortage, which is unlikely to get resolved before the second half of 2022.'
Michael Boneham, president, Ford India, said the small car would be engineered for Indian conditions and that the company was keeping options open for both petrol and diesel variants. Ford's mall car will mark its entry into the mainstream segment, popularly known as the B segment cars in India, which accounts for a little over 70 per cent of the 1.3 million India car market.
The new obsession on cost control is powered by the company's 'GEAR' (Generate idea, evaluate, action and realise the idea) programme.
A majority of HMIL's current export comprises the i10 model, which is exported to Asia, Latin America and Western Europe. In addition, the company has stated that 90 per cent of the i20 model (a premium hatchback) will be exported. The company will produce 150,000 units of the model annually.
Five years after entering India, VW has captured just 2.1 per cent of the market because its cars are seen as relatively expensive and it lacks a diverse mass-market product range.
Tamil Nadu, claiming to be the Detroit of India, has labour unrest in the automobile industry, among others.
buyer. Car companies on Monday reported double-digit increases in sales in April 2010 over April 2009.
Market leader Maruti registers a growth of 19% in 2007.
The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission on Thursday advised auto giants Maruti and Hyundai not to target each other in advertisements and asked Maruti to file its reply to a complaint filed by its rival carmaker.
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.
Only five of India's top 20 car models have seen a reduction in wait times over the past year.
Hyundai Motors India hopes to export over 250,000 cars next year from India, twice this year's number. Yet, Managing Director H S Lheem said this performance will not be without its problems. In fact, ebullient exports may end up denting the company's bottom line.
The dealers operating in the space have jumped nearly three times over the past two years.
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