Risks emerging from the US have left automotive investors worried. US President Donald Trump has announced 25 per cent tariffs on automotive imports, while global electric carmaker Tesla has taken its first steps towards entering India. While these developments are sentimentally negative for related stocks, it may be too early to conclude the eventual impact, analysts said.
China's covid crisis could provoke a raw material crunch for India's EV industry later this year.
Bajaj Auto has become the top player in India's electric vehicle market by monthly volumes, across all categories, with over 25,000 sales and registrations in September. This comes on the back of a big push in expanding distribution by the company and steady demand of electric three-wheelers. In September, the company - according to the latest Vahan data - recorded sales of 17,570 electric two-wheelers, 4,575 three-wheelers, and 3,000 Yulu low-speed electric bikes (based on company sales numbers), which do not require a licence and are not registered on Vahan.
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.
Given the better growth in JLR sales and improving domestic sales, nearly 90 per cent of the analysts covering the stock have a 'Buy' rating.
Tata Motors on Friday said it will hike the prices of its passenger vehicles, excluding the Nano, by up to Rs 36,000 from April 1, to offset rising input costs.
The entry level car, brainchild of Ratan Tata who envisaged giving a safer and affordable alternative to families riding on two-wheelers, received lacklustre response from the Indian consumer. Tata Motors to bid adieu to Nano from April 2020.
The mini truck and passenger vehicle, which together crossed the 1-million sales mark in August, are already present in 24 countries.
The growth momentum that started during the festival season is likely to sustain in the new year, reports Arindam Majumder.
Even as India's passenger-vehicle sales touched a record high of 3.9 million units in 2022-23, growing 27 per cent over the previous financial year, the country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), said on Monday uncertainties in the electronic-component supplies might affect production in FY24. MSIL said the shortage of electronic components had some impact on production in FY23. "The company took all possible measures to minimise the impact.
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.
Under its Turnaround 2.0 programme, Tata Motors will work to improve its sales capabilities -- "as the product itself is not enough" -- use experiential marketing to excite the market and cut costs to make its offerings more competitive.
India is well positioned to continue to be the fastest-growing major economy next year, which may mark the lowest global growth since the millennium began barring the pandemic and the global financial crisis, according to Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran. In his New Year message to around 9.35 lakh employees of the Tata Group, he said increasing consumption, consumer confidence and investment will support India's growth story although the global environment has several risk factors, including the energy crisis in Europe, the battle to contain inflation to avoid recession, and ongoing geopolitical conflicts. "Post-pandemic, India opened up, and we have returned to living our daily lives normally, in a year that saw the nation turn 75 years old.
Reflecting the mood, passenger vehicle sales in November either remained muted or skidded for most manufacturers as high fuel prices and the higher cost of borrowing dampened buying sentiment.
'We are seeing one of the highest discounts in recent years across companies.' 'October is a crucial month with several festivals coming up.'
BS-VI emission norms and the COVID-19 lockdown impacted the dispatches.
Auto majors report positive sales figs for November.
The four-door, five-seater pick-up will be priced at Rs 7.62 lakh for the 4X2 version and Rs 8.58 lakh for the 4X4 version (ex-showroom Delhi). The car will be powered by the same engine which powers the group's sports utility vehicle Safari. It will have 2.2 VTT Dicor diesel engine, which belts out a power of 140 bhp. The car does not have much competition in the lifestyle pick-up market with the only other vehicle in the space being Mahindra's Scorpio Getaway.
However, the company has not provided a timeline for the launch of the small electric car.
Auto majors Maruti Suzuki India and Hyundai reported muted sales performance in October as the companies curtailed dispatches to dealers in order to cut inventory build up.
Tata Motors, the country's leading bus and truck maker and third-ranked passenger vehicle maker, plans to raise Rs 4,000 crore ($1 billion) by issuing appropriate securities in the foreign and domestic markets. Its board of directors at a meeting held on Tuesday gave an in-principle approval for the fund raising plan, to be raised in one or more tranches.
Maruti, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Honda saw their passenger vehicle sales improve in August compared to the same month last year, although Ford and Toyota witnessed a decline.
The car will compete with Hyundai Grand i10 and Maruti Suzuki Celerio
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).
Chinese electric carmaker BYD is focusing on launching vehicles in the Rs 25-45 lakh price range in India even as it continues to evaluate customer preferences and demand in more affordable segments, its Head of Electric Passenger Vehicles in India Rajeev Chauhan told Business Standard.
Auto manufacturers have focused on launching CNG variants of their popular models to meet consumer demand for vehicles with lower running costs.
Car sales are experiencing a challenging phase with around Rs 60,000 crore worth of inventory lying unsold with dealers.
From Hyundai to Tata Motors, automakers are staring at a bleak future. With no succor provided in the Budget, the pain for companies is likely to continue for the next two quarters.
At Rs 470,000 for the base petrol variant, Tigor is now the cheapest compact sedan in the country
Electric vehicle retail sales in the country witnessed over three-fold jump last fiscal with two-wheeler offtake leading the segment, according to data compiled by automobile dealers' body FADA. Total electric vehicle (EV) retails reached 4,29,217 units in 2021-22, a rise of three-fold from 1,34,821 units in the financial year 2020-21, the industry body said. Total EV sales had stood at 1,68,300 units in the 2019-20 fiscal, it noted.
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.
Leading automakers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors on Thursday reported robust sales in March as a shift towards personal mobility and pent up demand continued to help companies push dispatches to their respective retail partners. Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Honda Cars and Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) also reported strong sales last month as compared to the year-ago period, when dispatches were adversely impacted due to the impending transition to BSVI from April 2020 and the nationwide lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India said its domestic sales stood at 1,49,518 units last month. The auto major had reported sales of 76,976 units in March 2020.
The company said the price hike has been effective from Thursday across the country.
Hyundai Motor India Ltd has become the country's fifth most valuable auto firm by market valuation in its debut trade on Tuesday. Shares of Hyundai Motor India Ltd, the Indian arm of South Korean automaker Hyundai, listed at Rs 1,931, reflecting a decline of 1.47 per cent against the issue price of Rs 1,960 on the BSE earlier in the day. The stock slumped 7.80 per cent to Rs 1,807.05 during the day and finally ended at Rs 1,820.40 apiece, down 7.12 per cent.
India's flagship motor show Auto Expo 2023 kicked off on Wednesday with the global unveiling of Suzuki Motor Corporation's concept electric SUV 'eVX' which is slated to hit the market by 2025. The company's Indian arm Maruti Suzuki India is among the major manufacturers participating in the show that has returned after three years. The Concept eVX is a mid-size electric SUV concept designed and developed by Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), Japan. It will be powered by a 60 kWh battery pack offering up to 550 km of driving range on single charge.
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.
Passenger vehicle sales continue to drop in June; Maruti, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Toyota witness decline. Mahindra & Mahindra, however, reported a 4 per cent growth.
The US carmaker's entry into India is expected by the last quarter of the current financial year.