Maruti Suzuki rings in festive month with 163,656 unit sales in October, up 17.6%

Passenger vehicle market leader Maruti Suzuki has kicked off the announcements of sales in October, a month which looks to be a humdinger for the industry. If September 2020 saw the bellwether of the PV industry report 34% year-on-year growth (147,912 units), then October with 163,656 units builds on it – a 17.6% YoY growth and 10.64% month-on-month growth.

It also helps to note that the company, like other OEMs, would have beefed up its dealer inventories across the country last month in anticipation of renewed customer demand.

The entry level hatchback duo of the Alto and S-Presso saw sale of 28,462 units. This constitutes flat YoY growth (October 2019: 28,537). This is somewhat surprising given that demand from rural India is back on the back on the good kharif outing and most of the country returning to partial normalcy.

Meanwhile, the six-car pack of the Wagon R, Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire cumulatively added 95,067 units, up 26.6 YoY (October 2019: 75,094 units). The Wagon R, Swift and the Baleno continue to benefit from a surge of continued demand.

The Ciaz sold 1,422 units, down a sizeable 40% YoY (October 2019: 2,371). The executive sedan had sold 1,534 units in September and 1,223 in August.

The utility vehicle segment, a market which is seeing massive competition as well as a continued wave of demand, sees Maruti Suzuki post decent numbers. The quintet of the Gypsy, Ertiga, S-Cross, Vitara Brezza and XL6 sold a total of 25,396 units, up 10% YoY (October 201923,108).

The two vans – Eeco and Omni – rounded off the month with 13,30  units, up 33% (October 2019: 10,011).

Q2 FY 2021 net profit of Rs 1,371 crore, up 1%
A few days ago, Maruti Suzuki India had announced its financial results for Q2 FY2021 and H1 FY 2021. It registered evenue of Rs 17,689 crore for Q2 FY2021, a growth of 9.7 percent YoY, and net profit of Rs 1,371 crore, which is one percent higher compared to same period last year. The carmaker says the net profit for Q2 FY2020 was higher due to mark-to-market gains on the invested surplus and lower tax provision.

In the second quarter of FY2021, the company sold a total of 393,130 vehicles, higher by 16.2 percent compared to the same period the previous year, including domestic sales came at 370,619 units (18.6%) and exports of 22,511 units (-12.7%).