The economy segment of India's car market is unlikely to revive soon term as inflation and prices prompt buyers to defer purchases. The share of entry-level cars in the passenger vehicle market dropped to the lowest in seven years at the end of the Financial Year 2021-22 (FY22). A recovery in the segment will be largely driven by the overall economic growth, improvement in income levels, and easing of semiconductor shortage, say carmakers and analysts.
'From data on enquiries, we can build what we call a data lake or a data warehouse where data is classified into various cohorts and then we use AI and ML tools to predict demand down the line.'
Cumulative sales of India's top passenger vehicle makers -- Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata Motors, Honda Cars, and Toyota Kirloskar -- increased to 206,418 units in February over 200,322 units in the same month last year, an increase of 3 per cent.
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'Some of the launches may get deferred due to the semiconductor shortage, which is unlikely to get resolved before the second half of 2022.'
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.
Industry players have sought government support in the form of stimulus package and reduction in excise duty to overcome the slump.
The national capital-based company recorded sales of 82,870 units in the domestic market last month, a 19.15 per cent fall from 1,02,503 units in November, 2010.
"Nano is like an open canvas for us. We have the option of positioning it on the lines of the (Volkswagen) Beetle or the (BMW) Mini."
Dealers expect 10-15% fall in April sales; car makers look at lowering total cost of ownership for consumers.
Ola Electric has finalised its second phase of expansion, under which it will increase its plant capacity fourfold - from 1 million two-wheelers per annum to 4 million. This will also include motorcycles, said a top executive of the company. It will also build a plant with a 5 Gwh of advanced chemistry cell battery storage capacity in the same super factory located on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
The total number of passenger vehicles (cars and utility vehicles) sold annually in the 1970s was 32,000 units - less than even one week's sales today.
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.
Passenger vehicle dispatches from factories to dealers declined 13 per cent to the lowest level in five years in December last year as the industry continued to face production issues due to semiconductor shortage, auto industry body SIAM said on Friday. Passenger vehicle dispatches last month stood at 2,19,421 units compared to 2,52,998 units in December 2020. While acknowledging that the chip shortage situation is not expected to dramatically change in the short term, the industry body expressed hope that things will improve soon.
Shares of auto component major, Samvardhana Motherson International, has gained 11.5 per cent on the bourses after the company approved the qualified institutions placement (QIP) issue and announced the calculation methodology for its compulsorily convertible debentures, or CCDs, into equity shares. Analysts cite strong investor response to the issue that has kept the sentiment positive for the stock. Brokerages, however, have a mixed view on the outlook for the auto parts supplier.
Tata Motors owned Jaguar Land Rover will start producing its Range Rover and Range Rover Sport in India, marking a first for the iconic models in their 54-year long history, to be rolled out from a country outside of the UK. Till now the two models were only produced in Jaguar Land Rover's Solihull plant in the UK and then exported to around 121 markets globally, including India.
Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Honda Cars and Tata Motors posted single digit growth during the period under review while M&M reported decline in sales.
'In April, we saw a 10 per cent growth in our own volumes.'
While the share of diesel vehicles sales in the overall passenger car industry has already fallen sharply, sales of CNG vehicles have shown a compound annual growth rate of 15.5 per cent over the past five years.
India's petrol and diesel sales fell by about 17 per cent in May from a month ago as restrictions clamped to curb the world's worst outbreak of coronavirus infections stifled demand. Sales of petrol -- used in cars and motorcycles -- fell to 1.79 million tonne in May, the lowest in a year, according to the preliminary data of state-owned fuel retailers. While the consumption was almost 13 per cent higher than demand in May 2020, it was 28 per cent lower than pre-COVID levels of 2.49 million tonne.
The stock of the country's largest passenger vehicle maker, Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), has been hitting successive all-time highs over the past three trading sessions. The rally in the scrip has helped it notch over a 21 per cent gain since the start of February, outperforming the National Stock Exchange Nifty Auto Index. The gains for the leader of small passenger cars have been more recent, as the company still trails the Nifty Auto over one- and two-year periods.
Alto, the Maruti brand synonymous with small cars, introduced the new generation K10 on Thursday, aiming to consolidate its position further amid shrinking demand for hatchbacks. With prices starting at Rs 399,000 and going up to Rs 533,500 (for manual transmission), the new model claims fuel efficiency of 24.90 km per litre. The Japanese car maker, which has been selling 100 Altos every hour for the last 22 years, had discontinued the model in February 2020.
The government on Friday approved an electric-vehicle policy, under which duty concessions will be given to companies setting up manufacturing units in the country with a minimum investment of $500 million, a move aimed at attracting major global players like US-based Tesla. According to an official statement, the companies setting up manufacturing facilities for e-vehicles will be allowed to import a limited number of cars at lower customs duty. The policy seeks to promote India as a manufacturing destination for EVs and attract investment from reputed global EV manufacturers, it added.
The eligibility for loan issuance for salaried individual for car purchase has been raised from Rs 250,000 per annum to Rs 600,000 per annum, as per the recent circular of the bank.
Bhavish Aggarwal, the founder of ride-hailing firm Ola who disrupted the electric scooters market in the country, is planning to launch an electric sports car in 2024. The plan will put it in competition with Indian players, such as the Tata group and Mahindra & Mahindra, and global giants like Tesla and Hyundai. Aggarwal, recently, took a group of reporters to the firm's design studio at the Ola campus in Bengaluru where his teams are working on several EVs, including scooters, motorcycles, sedans, and SUVs - and even robotaxis.
The improving outlook for the power sector has caught the interest of dividend yield funds. In the first four months of the current financial year (2023-24, or FY24), five of the six largest dividend yield funds have shown a notable increase in their exposure to stocks within the power sector. Some have even introduced new stocks to their portfolios.
The ongoing elections and overall subdued market sentiment continue to affect the sales momentum
The entire range of Hyundai's diesel cars - from compact ones to SUV models, including the soon-to-be-launched Aura - will be eco-friendly.
Auto sales, particularly of two-wheelers, may not bounce back immediately and may take another two months to come back on track even as car bookings have started seeing an initial uptick. Various states started Unlock 2.0 on Monday, following a fall in the number of Covid-19 cases. Auto sales were hit in May following the impact of Covid-led lockdowns.
Co-founders of India's latest unicorn expected Covid-19 to be a speed breaker; instead it accelerated sales. Cars24 now enjoys more than 90 per cent market share among all other similar online transaction platforms. Dhruv Munjal traces the birth of this used-cars platform.
After the easing of lockdown in mid-May, auto companies were able to resume production in a phased manner, but the ramp-up was slow due to a broken supply chain, and lockdown-induced restrictions.
While Hyundai Motor India reported a marginal growth, Toyota Kirloskar Motor witnessed a dip in sales last month.
The growth momentum that started during the festival season is likely to sustain in the new year, reports Arindam Majumder.
Maruti's exports in May were down 2.4% at 9,089 units
CURVV, currently in its production-ready avatar, will first be made available as an electric vehicle, to be followed by its internal combustion engine counterpart.
The growth in the PV segment was primarily led by car market leader, Maruti Suzuki India, which saw its dispatches to dealers grow 4.4 per cent YoY to 144,277 units after 10 months of drop. It was driven by new launches, such as the S-Presso, a mini sport UV.
'Now that all the early adopters have the electric car, governments are backing down in some countries because they do not have the money to subsidise so much.'
AIG Rail Services Inc, a Chicago business that is part of AIG's financial-services division, was set up around five years ago and provides rail-car leases and equipment financing to shipping companies, railroads and others.
Let alone a discount, they might not even get the model, variant or colour of choice in BS-IV-compliant vehicles.
Sales of total electric vehicles in India are expected to be around 10 lakh units this year, equal to what was sold collectively in the last 15 years, mainly riding on the good traction witnessed by electric two-wheelers, Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) said on Thursday. In 2021, the sales of electric two-wheelers (E2Ws) in the country jumped over two-fold at 233,971 units driven by a good traction of high-speed scooters as compared to 100,736 units in 2020, SMEV said in a statement. "We haven't seen better days than the last few months in the entire EV journey.
