'Favourable product mix, sales recovery, and cost saving initiatives are expected to support margins going ahead while focus on debt reduction (target of debt free by FY24) will aid balance sheet strength'
The final Budget for the fiscal is likely to be tabled in July after formation of the new government.
Implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations, One Rank, One Pension are the other triggers going ahead, analysts say
286 dealers closed down in 18 months, 32,000 jobs impacted. Maharashtra leads with 84 closures, followed by Tamil Nadu and Delhi. The worst-hit is the passenger car segment.
Domestic commercial-vehicle (CV) sales volume will witness significant growth over the next few years and the overall CV volume is likely to reach close to 1-million units by FY24, a report said on Wednesday. The report by credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings also expects growing demand and the resultant rise in operating leverage to boost the profitability of the domestic CV-focused original equipment manufacturers after FY22, despite elevated production costs. A recovery in medium and heavy CVs from multi-year lows, along with sustained growth in light CV categories, will help overall CV volume to reach close to 1-million units by FY24 - the level of the last cyclical peak recorded in FY19, it said.
Passenger vehicle market leaders Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai on Saturday reported a decline in wholesales in December 2021, although homegrown majors Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra reported growth, amid semiconductor shortage continuing to impact production. Other manufacturers Nissan and Skoda also reported an increase in December 2021 sales although Honda Cars India witnessed a decline last month. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) reported a 4 per cent fall in wholesales to 153,149 units in December 2021 as against 160,226 units a year ago.
Consumer stocks remain the biggest laggard on the bourses. The Nify50 weighting of FMCG stocks declined to a decade low of 9.9 per cent at the end of March this year, down 150 basis points from 11.4 per cent a year ago. At their peak in March 2013, major FMCG stocks, such as Hindustan Unilever, ITC, and Asian Paints, together accounted for 15 per cent of the Nifty50. But now together with automobile stocks, the consumer goods sector accounts for only 14.7 per cent of the index, down 200 basis points in the past 12 months and 37 per cent from the record high weighting of 23.4 per cent at the end of March 2014.
Maruti is expected to post double-digit growth on product launches and good demand for entry-level cars.
Exports in October and November fell 28 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively.
The industry was expecting to sell 3 million passenger vehicles for the first time in 2016-17, but now it seems a moot possibility.
The growth rate could continue for another seven years.
The government has extended excise duty concessions beyond 30th June 2014 for a period of 6 months up to 31st December 2014.
Utility vehicles leader Mahindra and Mahindra on Monday announced a nominal 0.5 per cent price hike across all models, expect for the premium sports utility vehicles XUV 500 and the Rexton from its Korean arm, despite falling sales, which dipped nearly 8 per cent in June.
Bharat Forge, the Pune-based automotive component maker, has been one of the top-performing companies in its segment. The company's stock price is up 39.3 per cent since the beginning of the 2023 calendar year, surpassing other leading automotive component makers such as Bosch and Samvardhana Motherson International. The stock also outperformed the benchmark BSE Sensex, which is up 17.3 per cent year to date so far.
According to Society of India Automobile Manufacturers, the passenger car segment is now likely to grow by 9-11 per cent in 2012-13, instead of 10-12 per cent as projected three months earlier.
Tata Motors on Wednesday forayed into the CNG segment with the launch of Tiago and Tigor trims, priced between Rs 6.09 lakh and Rs 8.41 lakh respectively (ex-showroom Delhi). The Tiago iCNG range is priced between Rs 6.09 lakh and Rs 7.64 lakh while the three variants of Tigor iCNG are tagged at Rs 7.69 lakh, Rs 8.29 lakh and Rs 8.41 lakh respectively. With the launch, the homegrown auto major plans to strengthen its position in the CNG market which has been growing at a fast pace. "It is very clear that the CNG segment is going to witness a steep growth over the next few years.
'Bharat has been leading, but it cannot carry India as the bulk of the sales come from India in terms of volume and profitability.'
CEOs have complained that high interest rates have blocked their investment decisions. At the same time, customers are also deferring their purchases for new consumer durables, cars, and homes.
Honda has grown from 15% in FY12 to 27% now; Yamaha has doubled share to 5% in five years.
Leading indicators suggest economic activity has been disrupted after demonetisation.
Chinese automakers Great Wall Motors, FAW Haima Automobile, and Changan Automobile, after dithering about entering India for some years, have been encouraged by the robust sales performance of the late entrants Kia Motors and MG Motors even in a slowing market.
Strong festive demand in October helped carmakers register a seven-per cent volume growth in the domestic market, even as the largest player, Maruti Suzuki, reported low single-digit growth.
For an industry which saw sales shrinking in 2013-14, this is hope indeed.
This year, both rural and urban markets have reported around 18 per cent fall in the first quarter. However, most auto majors expect that by January, there would be a pick up.
Both will be powered by the company's Revotron 1.2-litre turbo-charged petrol engines.
Former managing director of Maruti Suzuki India, Jagdish Khattar, passed away on Monday morning following a cardiac arrest, according to people close to him. Khattar (79), a former bureaucrat, was considered as one of the most high profile leaders of the Indian automotive industry, laying the foundation for Maruti's future growth after the government began its disinvestment in 2002 and gradually exited from its joint venture with Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC). He had joined the then Maruti Udyog Ltd in July 1993 as director (marketing) and went on to become executive director (marketing) in the next six years.
Market leader Maruti Suzuki is putting finishing touches to its plan of finding its feet in what is being hailed as a battle of epic proportions in India's fastest-growing passenger vehicle segment, reports Arindam Majumder.
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.
In a rare face off, captains of the auto industry have hit out at the government for not walking the talk. At an industry event in the capital on Wednesday, R C Bhargava, chairman of India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki, and Venu Srinivasan, chairman of TVS Motor, questioned the government's intent to support the auto sector. Revenue secretary Tarun Bajaj sat in the audience listening, before his turn came to counter them.
The pre-owned vehicles arm of the Mahindra Group plans to add 30 outlets in a few days taking the total number to 1,000.
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.
Apart from physical stores, the company operates 2,700 digital touch points in the form of web pages, which is gaining good traction from tier-II and III centres.
The Argentinian becomes the first brand ambassador of the company in its 70-year history.
With car penetration of around 22 per 1,000 population, India continues to be a big opportunity to sell cars, especially in rural areas.
The government on Friday announced several relief measures including deferring one-time registration fee, lifting the ban on purchase of petrol/diesel vehicles by its departments and allowing higher depreciation, but it remained non-committal on the demand for a reduction in GST rates.
While the overall passenger car industry is expected to grow at around seven per cent a year in the next five years, SUV growth is expected to be over 10 per cent.
"Lady candidates need not apply." So read the postscript in a job notice from Telco (now Tata Motors) on a notice board in the corridors of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (now Bengaluru), in 1974. Irked, Sudha Murty, who was then pursuing her masters in computer science at the institute, wrote a postcard to JRD Tata, expressing her surprise at this gender discrimination, especially since the Tata Group were pioneers on many fronts. Shortly, Murty became the first woman on the firm's shop floor.
Concerned over elevated inflation, Reserve Bank of India on Friday decided to leave the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent but maintained an accommodative stance, implying more rate cuts in the future if need arises to support the economy hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The slowdown in growth is an industry-wide trend and companies are adjusting production to bring down the inventory levels at plants as well as dealerships.
At a time when new car sales are witnessing record decline in India, pre-owned vehicles are likely to witness 10 per cent growth in sales to touch 4.4 million units in 2019 with millennials emerging as major buyers, according to a report by consumer-to-consumer marketplace OLX.
