Maruti Suzuki sells 139,133 units in November, down 3.3% YoY

One day after Maruti Suzuki India announced that it has notched the unique milestone of crossing the 20-million units sales mark in the country, the company has announced its numbers for November 2019. At 139,133 units, sales last month are down 3.3% over those in November 2018 (143,890). The month-on-month growth is only 12 units if you compare November 2019's 139,133 units to the 139,121 units of October 2019.

Having recorded growth in October 2019, which came after seven straight months of sales declines albeit due to festive season demand, it was felt that November sales would move in the same trajectory. But clearly the passenger vehicle industry, and the overall industry, is not out of the woods yet. The fact is that sustained growth seems far away and if Maruti Suzuki India, which has 49% of the PV market share, has seen tepid November numbers then it looks like the rest of the industry will follow. The recent news that the country's GDP has slowed down even further to 4.5% does not bode well for the near future either. 

Sales in 2019
January: 139,440 (0.18%)
February: 136,912 (0.19%)
March: 145,031 (-1.45%)
April: 131,385 (-19.61%)
May: 121,018 (-25.06%)
June: 111,014 (-17.18%)
July: 98,274 (-35.52%)
August 2019: 93,173 (-36.1%)
September 2019: 110,454 (-27.1%)
October 2019: 139,121 (2.33%)
November: 139,133 (-3.3%)

How the sales stack up in November
The entry level hatchback segment comprising of the Alto, S-Presso and the old Wagon R saw despatches of 26,306 units, down 12.2 percent (November 2018: 29,954). The recently launched S-Presso has initially seen demand and the company will be hoping it continues to bring some much-needed fizz to sales in this segment and overall numbers.  

The six-member compact car lot – New Wagon R, Celerio, Ignis, Swift, Baleno and Dzire – together sold a total of 78,013 units, down 7.6 percent (November 2018: 72,533).

The premium Ciaz sedan is bearing the brunt of the slowdown and how: At 1,448 units despatched in November 2019, sales are down 62.3% year on year (November 2018: 3,838).
Overall, Maruti's passenger car portfolio with sales of 105,767 units is down 0.5% YoY, which also indicates that growth is returning to this segment.

UV numbers improving month on month
If there is a glimmer of positivity, then it is in the company utility vehicle sales. There is a month-on-month growth in this segment, in line with the overall industry trend. In November 2019, the carmaker sold a total of 23,204 UVs, down 1.3% (November 2018: 23,512) but a total that reads better than October's 23,108, September's 21,526 or August's 18,522. Expect the Vitara Brezza, which regained the UV crown in October, to have done well.

The two vans, Eeco and Omni, at 10,162 units are down 27.7% YoY but have recorded a better performance than October's 10,011, September's 9,949 or August's 8,658 units.

Maruti Suzuki also sold a total of 2,286 units of the rebadged Baleno, sold as the Toyota Glanza to Toyota Kirloskar Motor, in November 2019, taking the total Glanza deliveries over the eight-month period to 16,590 units.

Also read: Car sales potter along in November, down 7% on October as well as year on year