Passenger vehicle sales continue to drop in June; Maruti, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Toyota witness decline. Mahindra & Mahindra, however, reported a 4 per cent growth.
In October, the company had launched Ciaz in both petrol and diesel options.
Data available from top six players - Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, M&M, Tata Motors, Honda and Toyota - shows an average growth of about 42 per cent for the industry in June
While Hyundai Motor India reported a marginal growth, Toyota Kirloskar Motor witnessed a dip in sales last month.
As the production of Micra, the first car from Nissan-Renault, starts at the plant by the end of May, Kiminobu Tokuyama, managing director and chief executive of Nissan Motor India Pvt Ltd, talks to rediff.com about the company's strategy for India, the recession and the auto sector in general.
Besides their country of origin, General Motors, Ford Motor and Harley-Davidson have another trait in common: all three have failed in India, the world's fifth largest automobile market. All three of them took a tough call to de-prioritise India as a market amid disruption from heightened regulations and sharper focus on capital allocation by the parent.
Major automakers, including Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Kia, Toyota and Honda, on Thursday reported healthy growth in passenger vehicles sales in June, recovering from the disruptions induced by the second wave of COVID-19. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) posted total sales of 1,47,368 units in June, up from 46,555 units in May. Its domestic dispatches to dealers last month stood at 130,348 units, up from 35,293 units in May, as easing of COVID-related restrictions helped the auto major to dispatch more units to dealerships.
Major automobile manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors and Toyota Kirloskar on Tuesday reported decline in domestic passenger vehicle sales in May compared to the previous month as a spike in COVID-19 cases and lockdowns across various states hit production and dispatches. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), which shut production from May 1 to May 16 so as to divert oxygen from industrial use for medical purposes, reported domestic dispatches to dealers at 35,293 units last month, down 75 per cent from 142,454 units in April. The company said sales of its mini cars, comprising Alto and S-Presso, declined by 81 per cent to 4,760 units in May as against 25,041 units in April this year.
Consumer sentiments have been dampened due to several factors like tight liquidity, high insurance, and high costs
Besides, Toyota and MG Motor also reported nil sales as they suspended operations even before the imposition of lockdown on March 25 to check the spread of coronavirus. In two-wheeler segment, niche bike maker Royal Enfield said it had zero sales in the domestic market but exported a total of 91 units last month.
Speaking at the forum, Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) representative director and president Toshihiro Suzuki said, "Suzuki's future mission is to achieve carbon neutrality with small cars. "We will continue active investment in India to realise Self-reliant India (Atma-nirbhar Bharat)." Under the MoU, the company's wholly-owned arm Suzuki Motor Gujarat Pvt Ltd (SMG) will invest Rs 7,300 crore for the construction of a plant for BEV batteries at a land neighboring to SMG's existing plant by 2026.
With cars like the Toyota Corolla and the Honda Civic selling in very small numbers and potentially even being phased out, the Octavia has very little competition, says Pavan Lall.
Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty closed higher on Friday after two days of fall, helped by buying in metal, telecom and auto stocks amid a firm trend in global markets. Automakers led by Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai, Mahindra & Mahindra reporting robust wholesales of passenger vehicles and GST collections crossing Rs 1.50 lakh crore for the third straight month in May also added to the optimism. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 118.57 points or 0.19 per cent to settle at 62,547.11.
A glipse of what carmakers have in store for you.
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.
These concept vehicles were showcased at the recent Los Angeles Motor Show.
The Carens is a warning for cars such as the Tata Safari, Hyundai Alcazar, Maruti Ertiga, Toyota Innova Crista and Mahindra XUV 700, because Kia punches much harder than others in its weight category.
Jeep India, a part of automotive group Stellantis, on Tuesday announced the opening of bookings for its upcoming SUV Meridian, the production of which has also commenced from its joint venture manufacturing facility at Ranjangaon, Maharashtra. Customers can book the Meridian either at Jeep India dealership network or through the company's website with a down payment of Rs 50,000. Deliveries of the vehicle will start in June, it said in a statement.
Jeep India, a part of automotive group Stellantis, on Tuesday announced the opening of bookings for its upcoming SUV Meridian, the production of which has also commenced from its joint venture manufacturing facility at Ranjangaon, Maharashtra. Customers can book the Meridian either at Jeep India dealership network or through the company's website with a down payment of Rs 50,000. Deliveries of the vehicle will start in June, it said in a statement.
M&M also saw its domestic passenger vehicle sales grow by 1 per cent, while Toyota Kirloskar Motor witnessed a decline in its PV sales.
Buying a car, particularly a diesel-powered one, is set to pinch the customers' pockets even more from the next financial year, as the second phase of Bharat Stage VI (BSVI) emission norms kicks in. The rules require cars to be compliant with real driving emission (RDE) norms, which measure pollutants emitted by cars while they are being driven on the road, unlike in a laboratory test. The norms may increase the cost of producing diesel vehicles by nearly Rs 75,000 to Rs 80,000, and petrol-powered ones by Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000, analysts said.
An official close to the organising committee, who is involved in drafting the scenarios, said they have been asked to make a simulation in case of a postponement.
However, notable absentees from the expo will be Honda, Toyota, Ford, BMW, Audi, Lexus, Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover along with two-wheeler majors Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor Co.
Hit hard by rupee depreciation, automobile companies including Toyota and General Motors, are keeping options open to increase prices of their vehicles.
Reliance improved its ranking this year to 121 from 142 last year, with a market value of $50.6 billion and assets worth $91.5 billion.
Leading automakers Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors and Tata Motors reported sales growth in the domestic market in November, aided by robust offtakes amid the festival season. While Maruti Suzuki India reported marginal growth, Hyundai logged in its highest ever monthly sales in November. Others like Honda Cars India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Mahindra & Mahindra and MG Motor India also reported sales growth in November as compared with the same month last year.
Close to 50 models were launched in India in the past 12 months, but companies have not been able to realise their potential due to the pandemic.
These companies join the likes of other global firms Hyundai, Suzuki, Toyota, KFC, and Pizza Hut which have also apologised for social media posts by their business associates in Pakistan supporting Kashmir Solidarity Day following backlash in India and call for boycott of their products.
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.
Passenger vehicle majors like Hyundai, Tata Motors, M&M, Toyota Kirloskar and Honda on Wednesday reported growth in domestic sales in August riding on festive sentiments, although market leader Maruti Suzuki posted a decline amid a semiconductor shortage affecting the industry. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) reported domestic sales at 110,080 units, as compared to 116,704 units in the same month last year, down 6 per cent. "Sales volume of the company in August 2021 was affected due to electronic components shortage.
Volkswagen AG will probably have to show there was some legitimate reason to install software that led to false vehicle emissions tests.
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.
The German group has set aside 6.5 billion euros ($7.3 billion) to help cover the costs of the crisis and said that 11 million of its cars could be affected worldwide.
Sixteen major contracts worth nearly $14 billion to be renewed by June 2018 but uncertainty looms large.
New participants included Chinese players such as Great Wall Motors and Haima Automobile along with Olectra.
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.
Maruti's compact segment comprising New WagonR, Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno, Dzire, and utility vehicles, including Gypsy, Ertiga, XL6, S-Cross and Vitara Brezza saw robust sales, while the mini segment comprising Alto, S-Presso and Old WagonR saw negative growth.
That means a manufacturer looking at a market like India needs to decide whether small, cheap cars or small, expensive cars or both will work better for them, says Pavan Lall.
Toyota can be credited for kick starting the MPV revolution in India with the Qualis, which was the company's entry model for our country. Despite the skeptical views of the reviewers for Qualis, the car succeeded and paved the way for Innova. Now in its second generation, Indian automobile website MotorBeam.com have decided to gauge how big is the leap between the two generations of the people mover.
The new financial year started on a mixed note for car makers.
