India’s largest passenger car maker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd is set to clock a new record in its October retail sales this time, on the back of robust demand in the peak festival season. Unlike previous years, this year, Navratri, Dhanteras and Diwali, all fall in a single month.
“This month, we are going deliver at least 2 lakh vehicles and we are going to reduce the inventory across the network. Our network inventory by the end of the month will be around 30 days,” Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer of Marketing and Sales at Maruti Suzuki, told reporters today.
Maruti Suzuki’s highest October retail sales were last in 2020 when the company delivered 1.91 lakh units. The company’s retail sales in October last year were around 1.5 lakh units.
“This year Dhanteras, which falls on October 29, lasts till 2 pm on October 30. Today we completed around 32,000 deliveries and expect to deliver approximately 10,000 units on October 30. So, approximately 42,000 units on Dhanteras. The highest number of units sold was 23,000, last Dhanteras," a senior company official said.
For most states in India, the festival season generally starts by the end of August or the beginning of September with Ganesh Chaturthi and Onam, and lasts till Bhai Dooj after Diwali in November. The period from Navratri to Diwali is considered the peak festival season.
This period is of much significance to automakers owing to high consumer spending, due to cultural significance. Volumes generated in this period account for a significant part of automakers’ annual sales.
Maruti Suzuki’s Chairman RC Bhargava said retail sales of passenger vehicles have been strong during the festival season, and the automaker estimates retail sales to grow 14% in the peak festival period on a year-on-year basis.
Meanwhile, the company’s domestic wholesales, or dispatches to dealerships, during the quarter ended September, declined 3.9% on year to 4.64 lakh units.
When asked about the decline in wholesale numbers, Bhargava noted that the performance of the passenger vehicle industry is determined by the retail numbers. Retail sales in the festival season have been much higher than the wholesales, he explained.
He also said that the company is adjusting its production and dispatches to reduce the higher inventory across the dealerships.