It’s a mixed bag for India car sales in November

As the sales numbers are revealed by various carmakers, it looks like while some like Maruti Suzuki, Honda Cars India and Toyota Kirloskar Motor are pulling in the numbers, others like Mahindra & Mahindra continue to feel the pressure of high interest rates, uncertainty of excise duty rates and a generally tight-fisted economy. Tata Motors' passenger car sales being in positive territory was a big surprise, thanks to the consumer interest in the Zest.    

Maruti Suzuki India, always the first to reveal its monthly numbers on the first day of every month and the bellweather of the Indian automobile industry, announced that it has posted a 17 percent growth in its November 2014 sales.

During the month, the carmaker sold a total of 100,024 units (November 2013: 85,510). The Ciaz sedan, launched in October 2014 and replaced the SX4 sedan, seems to have given a fillip to sales in the midsize sedan category selling 5,232 units, up 2,516 percent albeit on a low base of just 200 units a year ago. In the entry level category, the Alto and Wagon R  sold a total of 37,746 units, pointing to flat sales of 0.8 percent (November 2013: 38,040).

The good numbers have come from the quartet of the Celerio, Swift, Swift hatchbacks and the Dzire sedan. They sold a total of 37,339 units, up 13.8 percent  (November 2013: 32,804). Meanwhile, the Dzire Tour, which is sold only as a taxi, notched a 229 percent year-on-year increase to 1,989 units  (November 2013: 604). As a result, total passenger car sales were up 14.9 percent to 82,306 units  (November 2013: 71,649). In the UV segment, the popular Ertiga continues to drive sales and contributed the bulk of the 5,515 units sold last month – 5,515. However, overall this segment’s sales were down 5.6 percent  (November 2013: 5,840). Vans, surprisingly, continues to do well on the sales front and the Eeco and the Omni sold a total of 12,203 units, up 52.1 percent  (November 2013: 8,021). On the exports front, Maruti sold a total of 10,123 units, a growth of 52.7 percent (November 2013: 6,630). Overall, the company’s November 2014 domestic and export numbers add up to 110,147 units, up 19.5 percent over the sales of 92,140 units in November 2013.

Hyundai Motor Indiarecorded domestic sales of 35,511 units and exports of 18,500 units with cumulative sales of 54,011 units for November 2014. Last November, the company sold 33,501 units in the domestic market, so  this month’s sales are an increase of six percent (November 2013: 33,501).

Sales in the local market were powered by the Elite i20 that sold 10,500 units, accounting for just under a third of the company’s sales. November sales were HMIL’s highest for the new model so far. Rakesh Srivastava, senior VP, sales and marketing, HMIL, said, ”The strong investment of launching four new products in a years’ time has resulted in this growth. Today, Hyundai has one of the youngest product portfolios lead by the Elite i20.”

The Elite i20’s total sales have crossed the 35,000 mark since its July launch. The vehicle has replaced the earlier i20.

Mahindra & Mahindra’s November sales are down 18 percent with its passenger vehicles division selling a total of 13,765 units (November 2013: 16,771).

Overall domestic sales stood at 32,100 units (for cars, three- wheelers and Mahindra Trucks and Buses) in November 2014, as against 36,261 units during November 2013, down 8 percent.  

Commenting on the sales, Pravin Shah, chief executive, Automotive Division & International Operations (AFS), said: “The auto industry continues to its sluggish demand due to factors such as low consumer sentiments and high interest rates. The reducing international crude prices and the subsequent lowering of fuel prices should help in revival of demand in the coming months. We also hope that the current excise duty rates will be extended beyond end of December to get much-needed recovery for the auto industry.”

After a very long time, it is good news for Tata Motors' passenger vehicles which recorded domestic sales of 12,021 units, a growth of 16 percent compared to 10,376 sold in November 2013. The trend of growth in passenger vehicles continued with the strong Zest and Nano sales. While the sales of the passenger cars in November 2014 were at 10,286 units higher by 30 percent over 7,910 sold in November 2013, UV sales declined by 30 percent.

Meanwhile, Honda Cars India, which is on a roll, has recorded domestic sales of 15,263 units in November 2014, up 64 percent on its year-earlier month sales of 9,332 units.

The City top-scored with sales of 7,252 units, followed by the Mobilio and Amaze that sold 3,589 and 3,310 units respectively. With the company beginning a second shift at its Tapukara, Rajasthan unit, the company was able to ramp up sales of the City, which have crossed the 70,000 mark since its launch at the beginning of the year. Sales for the Brio hatchback touched 1,050 units and that of the CR-V, 62.

Jnaneswar Sen, senior VP, marketing & sales, said, “We continue to have strong demand for all our products across markets. We are aggressively expanding our dealer network which has reached the milestone of 200 dealers in the country.”

HCIL’s sales for the eight-month period ended November 2014 were up 46 percent with 116,705 units sold as against 80,163 units during the corresponding period last year. HCIL exported 890 units during the month.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor sold 12,175 units in November 2014 in the domestic market, up 19 percent (November 2013: 10,208). On the export front, it shipped 1,959 units of the Etios series last month. So cumulatively, the company recorded sales of 14,134 units, including exports, in November 2014 as compared to 12,748 units in the year-earlier period. TKM registered an overall growth of 11 percent.  

N Raja, director and senior vice-president, sales and marketing said, “We have registered growth in domestic and overall sales. We hope to maintain this momentum with the year ending, this month.”

The company has recently launched a refreshed Etios range.

Ford India sold 5,661 units in November 2014, down 28 percent (November 2013: 7,909). The company’s exports at 7,101 units helped the US carmaker touch combined local and export numbers at 12,762 vehicles in November, compared to 12,050 vehicles in November 2013. Exports in November last year were 4,141 units.

“The perceived improvement in consumer sentiment is yet to translate into better sales for the automotive industry. A lacklustre festive season was certainly not what the industry expected. While we are confident of the long-term growth potential of the Indian market, we continue to be cautiously optimistic in the near-term,” said Anurag Mehrotra, executive director, marketing, sales and service at Ford India.

On the sales front, the company has inaugurated five new touch points in Chandigarh and Punjab in the past month. The recently inaugurated touch points include the first Ford Quick Lane in Chandigarh among other sales, service and spares outlets.