Issues like high insurance cost and the announced price hike effective January could also weigh on sales in 2019. The only bright spot is the softening seen in fuel prices over the past month.
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.
The government on Tuesday expressed concern over reports that automobile manufacturers are selling vehicles with purposefully downgraded safety standards in India and asked them to stop the 'unpardonable' practice. Speaking at a seminar on implementation of vehicle location tracking devices in order to enhance the safety on road, organised by auto industry body SIAM, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) secretary Giridhar Aramane also noted that only a few manufacturers have adopted vehicle safety ratings system and that too used only for their high-end models.
From steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal to billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal's Airtel, Anil Agarwal's Vedanta, ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra, and a lesser-known Future Gaming and Hotel Services were among the prominent buyers of the now-scrapped electoral bonds for making political donations.
Vehicle sales have been hampered by weak consumer sentiment and still-weak availability of financing following tighter liquidity at non-banking lenders since the middle of 2018.
It is pouring heavily not only in North India, but at Dalal Street too. However, the latter is seeing a flurry of initial public offers (IPOs). After a busy fortnight that ended on July 7 with seven IPOs - IdeaForge Technology, Cyient DLM, PKH Ventures, Pentagon Rubber, Global Pet Industries, Tridhya Tech, and Synoptics Technologies -- four more IPOs will hit the Street this week, including one mainboard IPO of Utkarsh Small Finance Bank. That apart, India's largest securities' depository National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for an IPO.
Money managers have turned cautious about the technology space.
Passenger vehicle wholesales in India rose significantly year-on-year in July, as COVID-led restrictions eased across states and companies pushed stocks to dealers to build up inventories for the upcoming festive season, SIAM said on Thursday. The total passenger vehicle sales -- including dispatches of cars, utility vehicles and vans -- from OEMs to dealerships increased by 45 per cent to 264,442 units in July against 182,779 units in the same month last year. According to the latest data by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), two-wheeler dispatches from the OEMs to dealerships, however, declined by 2 per cent to 12,53,937 units in July, compared to 12,81,354 units in the year-ago period.
From its lows this month, the stock of Sona BLW Precision Forgings is up 10 per cent on better-than-expected results. The stock rose by 4 per cent in the trading session on Tuesday after Japan's Nikkei Group said the Indian automotive component major has topped its rankings in terms of competitive advantage. The rankings are based on sales, profit margin, capital expenditure, research and development, and market capitalisation.
Dealer despatches will probably be a good signal of economic turnaround or further deterioration, says Devangshu Datta.
Exasperated by frequent labour strikes, the Tamil Nadu government has decided to give public utility status to Auto components makers. A move that has left labour unions fuming since, now, they won't be able to go on strike without issuing a notice of six weeks in advance.
The industry needs stimuli to help revive consumer demand and conversions.
Smaller players manufacturing electric two-wheelers (E2Ws) are unlikely to raise prices of their models initially in 2024 in order to ensure volumes do not drop. The prices of E2Ws range from Rs 90,000 to Rs 1 lakh, the players being Lohia Auto, Godawari Electric, Emobi, etc. As India's E2W sector gears up to go past one million in 2024, manufacturers are likely to maintain price stability, underpinned by strategic independence from subsidies under Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (and Hybrid) Vehicles II (FAME II), localisation efforts, sustainability initiatives, and a focus on affordability.
M&M was the biggest loser in the Sensex chart, falling 6.39 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, Nestle India, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, ITC, JSW Steel, HDFC Bank and RIL. On the other hand, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, L&T and Infosys were among the winners, rising up to 2.10 per cent.
'It has the potential to add half a trillion dollars to the economy over the next five years.'
India can become one of the world's automotive export hubs of the 21st century.
The Rajkot-based auto component industry, which was doing well last year, has hit multiple road blocks -- rupee depreciation, high interest rates and high petrol prices.
Passenger and commercial vehicle prices are expected to rise as automobile companies invest in upgrading vehicles to meet stricter emission norms that kick in from April next year. The Indian automobile industry is currently working to make their products meet the second phase of Bharat Stage VI, equivalent to Euro-VI emission norms, in real time driving conditions. Four-wheeler passenger and commercial vehicles will need more sophisticated equipment to be added to meet the next level of emission standards.
There is another common trend among these three players - they are all registering a volume decline in a market that is expanding at over 8 per cent
Top carmakers, including Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai and Honda, are expecting a spike in their sales following the implementation of 7th Pay Commission recommendations.
The benchmark Nifty and Sensex could see another 8-10 per cent from the current levels, said HDFC Securities in its outlook for equity markets in 2024. The brokerage said that the market movement in the next year will not be linear, and there will be more volatility. When asked about the market reaction to the General Elections in 2024, Dhiraj Relli, managing director and CEO of HDFC Securities, said more than the outcome of the elections, the market movement in the next three to four months will decide the market trajectory post elections.
Hybrids have helped Maruti acquire leadership in SUVs, a segment that was never its forte. Toyota has also risen with the hybrid tide to clock its highest-ever annual sales in 2023.
Even as India overtakes Japan in automotive sales in 2022, moving to third place for the first time, oddly enough the country's biggest motor show is going to see some big hitters give it a clear miss. Some prominent automotive brands have cited high event costs, negligible returns on investment, poor event management, and unfavourable location as reasons for their reluctance to participate. Major pure-play electric two-wheelers, too, are riding past this year's edition of the Auto Expo.
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.
Paris-based international advisory firm Mazars predicts four per cent growth in India's automobile sector this financial year.
There's a hint of new competition riding into a sector that has attracted attention for being in a duopoly-like situation. Rapido, a commute app known for its budget-friendly bike-taxi services, on Tuesday announced its entry into the cab market, which is currently dominated by marquee brands Uber and Ola. Rapido's cab foray will be enabled by a software as a service (SaaS)-based platform.
India, the world's fifth largest economy in the world, is likely to overtake Japan to become the world's third-largest economy with a GDP of $7.3 trillion by 2030, S&P Global Market Intelligence said in its latest issue of PMI. After two years of rapid economic growth in 2021 and 2022, the Indian economy has continued to show sustained strong growth during the 2023 calendar year. India's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow 6.2-6.3 per cent in the fiscal year ending in March 2024, being the fastest-growing major economy this fiscal year.
Losers include ONGC, Bajaj Finance, Reliance, SBI, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank, L&T, Vedanta, Yes Bank and Axis Bank, falling up to 2.54 per cent. On the other hand, Tata Steel, PowerGrid, HCL Tech, Kotak Bank and Maruti were the top gainers on Sensex, rising up to 2.31 per cent.
Looking to complete its range of vehicles in the automobile sector, two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto has embarked on a four-year programme to develop a quadricycle for the Indian market.\n\n
Kotak Mahindra Bank was the biggest loser from the Sensex pack, skidding 1.83 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, HCL Technologies, IndusInd Bank and Nestle. In contrast, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Titan, Infosys, HDFC Bank, HDFC and ITC were the gainers.
Concerns over economic slowdown, muted earnings, crisis in the auto industry and global trade issues have been weighing on investor sentiment, experts said.
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.
The auto show from April 10 to 18 will also have global equipment manufacturers, like BMW, Skoda and Renault, besides around 600 exhibitors from across the globe, Indo German Export Promotion Foundation said.
Use of 10 per cent ethanol-blended petrol has led to a saving of over Rs 41,000 crore in the foreign exchange for the country, minister of state for environment, forest and climate change Ashwini Kumar Choubey said on Wednesday. Speaking at an online event of auto industry body SIAM on sustainable mobility, the minister said the government is working in multiple ways to encourage sustainable mobility. "India recently achieved 10 per cent ethanol blending target 5 months in advance, saving over Rs 41,000 crore worth of fuel imports for the nation," Choubey noted.
Automobile companies are worried about challenges from electric mobility, automation and connected vehicles.
Which entrepreneur would willingly part with her or his hard-earned money for grasping, self-serving politicians? asks Debashis Basu.
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