As the November 2012 sales numbers were revealed, what seems clear is that the festive season has failed to bring the much-looked-forward-to sparkle in sales. Despite a flurry of new product launches and deep discounts galore, most passenger car and two-wheeler OEMs did not have much to shout about their market performance.
Market leader Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and Honda Cars India were the few carmakers to record growth, while the rest posted sharp declines. This is despite a low base in November 2011 as both Dussehera and Diwali were in October 2011.
Maruti Suzuki recorded growth of 9.7 percent in November 2012, selling 90,882 units in the domestic market. The Alto top-scored with 23,550 units while the Swift and Dzire totted up 17,335 units and 13,502 units, respectively. The Ertiga continues to be on a roll with sales of 7,337 units. Since its launch in April 2012, the MPV has sold 46,996 units. The SX4, however, has lost some of its steam with sales of 692 units as against 1,433 units sold in November 2011. In the fiscal year till now, Maruti has posted an 8.7 percent growth rate, cumulatively selling 660,102 vehicles in the eight-month April-November 2012 period as compared to 607,417 units in the year-ago period.
Mahindra & Mahindra, which has been riding a wave of demand for diesel-engined SUVs, posted a handsome 38 percent increase in sales. The passenger vehicles segment (which includes UVs and the Verito midsizer) sold 24,604 units in November 2012, as against 17,813 units during November 2011. The Verito, now refreshed, sold 1,235 units while the Quanto, launched in October, sold 2,297 units. The Bolero continues to be on a roll, recording its second-consecutive tally of over 10,000 monthly sales.
Hyundai Motors India, the country’s second largest carmaker, sold 34,751 units during the month, down one percent YoY (November 2011: 35,000). While the i10 sold 9,782 units, the Eon sold 8,449 units; the latter has seen a surge in recent months. Rakesh Srivastava, VP, marketing and sales, said: “The festival season stimulated sales of petrol cars. Demand for the Eon continues to grow month on month and has led to supply challenges.” The Accent and Verna sold 6,526 units cumulatively while the Elantra sold 513 units.
Tata Motors sold a total of 18,031 passenger vehicles as against 27,735 units in November 2011, a steep fall of nearly 35 percent. The Nano sold 3,503 units while the Indica and Vista sales were 6,956 units. The Indigo and Manza range recorded sales of 3,709 units.
Ford India posted sales of 10,155 domestic wholesale and export units in November. In the local market, sales accounted for 5,944 vehicles as against 8,322 units sold in November 2011. The Figo continues to be the main driver of sales with 4,785 units sold. The Fiesta Classic and New Fiesta sold 881 and 124 units respectively.
Honda Cars India posted an increase of 87 percent in domestic sales with 3,711 units during November 2012 as against 1,982 units sold during the same period last year. Honda launched a CNG version of the City during the month. Model-wise sales were as follows: Brio (2,199), Jazz (186), City (1,218), Civic (72), Accord (36).
Toyota Kirloskar Motor sold 10,352 units in November 2012 as compared to 13,956 units in November 2011, down by 26 percent. The Innova recorded nine percent growth with 4,682 units (November 2011: 4,308). The Fortuner sold 1,025 units while the Etios series sold 4,231 units as compared to 8,271 units in November last year. The Corolla Altis sold 362 units.
Sandeep Singh, deputy MD, marketing, said: “Sales have dropped in November due to a plant shutdown to ramp up the annual production capacity from 210,000 units to 310,00 units for 2013.”
Nissan Motor India sold 2,787 units during November 2012, including 1,663 units of the Sunny saloon and 849 units of the Micra hatchback.
Renault India sold 6,607 units in November 2012 with the Duster SUV accounting for the bulk of the sales. The Duster sold 5,251 units, the Scala 807 units, Pulse 436 units, Fluence 82 units and the Koleos SUV, 31 units. The company had recorded sales of 6,790 units in October 2012.
Sumit Sawhney, executive director, marketing and sales, said: “Although the market is still slow, we are happy to see Renault maintaining steady progress as our products led by the Duster are finding ready acceptance with our customers. We have opened 75 dealerships in less than 18 months and this has helped us reach our customers pan India with our full stable of products.”
In the luxury segment, Audi India sold 805 units in the month and in the process has crossed its sales target of 8,000 units for 2012, with December sales yet to join the annual tally. November 2012 sales were an 89 percent increase over the same period last year in which 425 units were sold. The carmaker, which is closing in on leader BMW India, expects India to be one of its top 10 global markets by 2016 and in its top five markets by 2021.
Eicher stands out in flat month for CV sales
TATA MOTORS’ SALES of commercial vehicles in November 2012 in the domestic market were 44,323 units as compared to 44,732 vehicles sold in November last year. Light commercial vehicle (LCV) sales comprised 34,828 units compared to 28,673 vehicles sold in November 2011. M&HCV sales stood at 9,495 units compared to 16,064 vehicles sold in November last year, a fall of 60 percent and reflecting the economic slowdown. Tata's cumulative sales of CVs in the domestic market for the fiscal were 342,855 units. Cumulative LCV sales were 243,543 units while M&HCV sales stood at 99,312 units.
Ashok Leyland sold 7,370 units in the month, down six percent from year-earlier month sales of 7,875 units. The Dost small CV sold 2,883 units in the month as against 814 units in November last year. The Dost has recently completed a year.
Meanwhile, Eicher- branded trucks and buses sold 3,418 units as compared to 3,171 units in November 2011, representing a growth of 7.8 percent. The YTD 2012 domestic sales for Eicher- branded trucks and buses stand at 42,163 units as compared to YTD 2011 sales of 40,717 units, an increase of 3.6 percent.
In the bus segment, Eicher's November 2012 sales stand at 429 units as compared to 249 units in November 2011, up 72.3 percent. The company's YTD 2012 sales stand at 8,074 units as compared to YTD 2011 sales of 6,118 units, up 32 percent. In the heavy-duty truck segment exceeding 12 tonnes, Eicher sales stand at 504 units in the local market as against 555 units in November 2011. The company’s YTD heavy-duty sales stood at 7021 units as compared to 6,413 units in 2011, an increase of 9.5 percent.
Two-wheeler OEMs also feel the heat
In the two-wheeler section, market leader Hero MotoCorp has begun to feel the heat of the slowdown. The company sold 502,305 units in November 2011, registering a decline of 6.42 percent (November 2011: 536,772). The company put the decline in sales to lower despatches in November 2012 as a result of holidays due to Diwali. In 2011, Diwali was in October. However, on a two-month scale, the company says it sold over 11 lakh two-wheelers in October and November. Anil Dua, SVP, marketing and sales, said “This is a seven percent growth over the same period last year.”
Bajaj Auto’s November 2012 tally was down nearly two percent with total motorcycles sold being 326,727 against 331,967 units sold during November 2011. The Discover brand registered sales of around 150,000 motorcycles. Meanwhile, the Pulsar 200NS along with the Discover brand contributed to nearly 68 percent of the total motorcycle sales.
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter, which has been on a bull run for some time now, did well. It posted total sales of 223,116 units, up 12 percent over November 2011’s sales of 198,782 units. November 2011 sales comprised comprising 108,439 motorcycles (up 36 percent) and 114,677 scooters (down 4 percent).
TVS Motor sold 166,783 units in November 2012 as against 172,829 units recorded in November 2011. Domestic sales stood at 150,056 units as against 150,406 units sold in November 2011. Motorcycle sales grew by five percent with sales of 65,494 motorcycle units as against 62,608 units in November 2011. Scooters recorded sales of 37,470 units in November 2012 against 44,301 units in the same month of the previous year.
India Yamaha Motor’s sales increased by 33 percent in the month. In terms of numbers, 37,347 units were sold as against 28,178 units sold in November 2011.
Suzuki Motorcycle India recorded a near-25 percent increase in its November tally as compared to November 2011. The company sold 39,134 units as opposed to 31,332 units in November 2011. Atul Gupta, vice-president, sales and marketing, said: “We have received a good response from the market for all our products. The festive campaign, 'HaiHayate, Hai Happiness' has further consolidated our consumer connect and created more opportunities for celebrations this festive season.”
Mahindra 2-Wheelers’ sales in November at 10,082 units grew by 26 percent over last year. Viren Popli, the company’s executive vice-president – strategy and market development, said, “There is increasing customer preference for our new range of scooters – the Mahindra Duro DZ and the Mahindra Rodeo RZ. Our scooters now come with Mahindra’s advanced Z-Series engine that delivers both 125cc power and great mileage.”