Everything’s official about it now. The Indian passenger vehicle (PV) industry has finally surpassed the three-million-units sales mark, for the first time ever. In FY2016-17, the PV industry notched sales of 3,046,727 units, recording year-on-year (YoY) growth of 9.23 percent and its best performance since the past five years.

While the fiscal was motoring along at a good pace till the first six months, the second half saw a sales speedbreaker in the form of the demonetisation exercise, which hit the auto sector hard, impacting the PV space for a brief period of time but regaining normalcy by January 2017.

For the fiscal year, the passenger car segment sold a total of 2,102,996 units (+3.85%) but what helped the overall PV industry achieve the 3-million milestone has been the sharp growth in SUV sales at 761,997 units (+29.91%), what with demand for compact SUVs going through the roof. Demand for vans, though, was muted with sales of 181,734 units (+2.37%). 

The biggest contributor to PV sales was, of course, Maruti Suzuki India with 1,443,641 units (+10.59%). Of that number, a good 1,095,891 or 24 percent were utility vehicles. The country’s largest carmaker now has a 47.38 percent market share in PVs and a 52.11 share in passenger cars.

No 2 player Hyundai Motor India, which has a 17 percent market share, sold a total of 509,705 (+5.24%). It is followed by Mahindra & Mahindra with a 7.75 percent market share for its 236,130 units (.07%) sold in 2016-17. At No. 4 is Tata Motors with 172,504 units (+15.45%) and a PV market share of 5.66 percent, followed by Honda Cars India with sales of 157,313 units (-18%) for a market share of 5.16 percent.

Difficult year for CVs
The commercial vehicle segment did well to post 4.16 percent YoY growth with sales of 714,232 units. This in a year which was fraught with a number of purchase decision-delaying issues like demonetisation and more recently the shift to BS IV. While M&HCVs posted flat growth of .04 percent with sales of 302,529 units, LCVs did well to record 7.41 percent growth with sales of 411,703 units.

While Tata Motors maintained its leadership position with sales of 305,620 units (+0.45%), its YoY growth was flat and its market share dropped from 44.47 percent in 2015-16 to 42.79 percent in 2016-17. Mahindra & Mahindra, which is seeing good demand for its small CVs, sold a total of 180,947 units (8.49%) and grew its market share to 25.33 percent from 24.32 percent in 2015-16. However, the company is expected to feel the pressure of close to 18,000 units of BS III inventory which it was unable to sell in 2016-17.

Ashok Leyland, at No. 3, sold a total of 133,264 (+4.67%) and has an overall CV market share of 18.66 percent. It is followed by VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) with sales of 49,406 units (+11.60%) for a market share of 6.92 percent and Force Motors which, with sales of 23,787 units (+2.84%), has a market share of 3.3 percent.

Tata Motors saw a substantial jump in its M&HCV passenger carrier sales – to 18,198 units in 2016-17 from the 14,917 units in 2015-16 – enough to help it growth its M&HCV market share to 38.50 percent from 34 percent a year ago. Ashok Leyland, however, ceded nearly 7 percent market share with its M&HCV sales dropped to 17,725 units from 19,586 units in 2015-16. VECV too saw a smart rise in its M&HCV sales to 5,973 units from 4,597 units in 2015-16, helping it grow its market share to 12.64 percent from 10.47 percent a year ago.

However, on the H&HCV goods carrier front, Ashok Leyland has wrested the advantage  with sales of 84,588 units to grow its market share to 33.14 percent. Meanwhile, Tata Motors, with sales of 130,703 units, saw its market share fall to 51.20 percent from 55 percent in 2015-16. VECV recorded sales of 28,611 units, growing its market share to 11.21 percent.

Two-wheeler OEMs feel the heat
2016-17 is not a fiscal two-wheeler OEMs would be fond of. Hero MotoCorp, with a 36.86 percent market share, sold a total of 6,483,655 units (+0.96%), not being able to harness growth as well as arch rival, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, which saw cumulative sale of 4,725,067 units (+10.3%).

TVS Motor stood No 3 with sale of 2,489,773 (+12.69%) units. No 4 player Bajaj Auto closed at 2,001,391units (+5.39%), also being the fore-runner in adopting the BS-IV technology.  

Royal Enfield, which has been running full throttle, closed at 651,107 units (+30.54%) followed by Suzuki Motorcycle India, which sold 350,530 (+11.88%). Mahindra Two Wheelers signalled tough times with 48,912 (-66.13%) units.

The premium motorcycle space saw Harley-Davidson India selling 3,690 units (-21.62%), while Triumph Motorcycles closed with 1,174 units (+3.07%).

Slowdown in three-wheelers
The three-wheeler segment slumped overall by 4.93 percent, hinting at the possible shift in market trends, which could be allowing in newer products, like e-rickshaws.

Bajaj Auto fought hard for the top spot with 253,147 units, registering de-growth of 0.72%. Piaggio Vehicles sold 151,106 units (-6.13%). While No. 3 player Mahindra & Mahindra saw sale of 52,306 units (-4.85%), Atul Auto closed with 36,507 units (-13.82%).