Bajaj Auto domestic sales up 36% in February, export crashes

Bajaj Auto reported a 36 percent growth in domestic sales to 1,53,291 units in February 2023. The company posted domestic sales of 1,12,747 units in February 2022, Bajaj Auto said in a statement.

Domestic two-wheeler sales also grew by 25 percent to 1,20,335 units from 96,523 units in the year-ago month due to uptick in urban markets and the ongoing marriage season.

However, in the export market, two-wheeler sales slipped 37 percent to 1,15,021 units last month compared to 1,82,814 units in February 2022. Overall exports also dipped sharply by 38 percent at 1,26,935 units last month resulting in a 11 percent decline in total sales of Bajaj Auto at 2,80,226 units due to the difficult macroeconomic environment in most emerging markets in South Asia, Africa and Latin America.

"Our largest market, Nigeria, will continue to be depressed and volatile till the elections get over at the end of February and a peaceful transition to the new government takes place, and also until the effect of their recent demonetization settles. Therefore, at an overall level, we estimate that it will take perhaps till May or June for normalcy to start returning, first in Latin America, then followed by Africa," Rakesh Sharma, Executive Director, Bajaj Auto, said over a call last month.

Total commercial vehicle sales saw a growth of 22 percent at 44,870 units in February compared with 36,683 units in the same month a year ago.

In the domestic market, commercial vehicle sales jumped 103 percent to 32,956 units from 16,224 units in the same month the previous year, the company said.

However, exports of commercial vehicles declined 42 percent to 11,914 units during the month under review compared to 20,459 units in the year-ago month.