Just after two months of the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the four-wheeler industry experienced a bumper ride in its August sales. With positive consumer sentiment ahead of the festive season, the automobile industry, led by Maruti Suzuki on Friday reported a robust growth in passenger vehicle (PV) sales in August despite hike in prices due to imposition of GST cess.
Other carmakers like Hyundai Motor India, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Honda also saw an impressive growth in sales in August as compared to the same month last year, while their peers Ford and Toyota witnessed a decline.
Apart from four-wheelers, the two-wheeler segment, including Royal Enfield and Bajaj Auto, also posted a healthy sales figure. While Royal Enfield reported 21.99 per cent increase in its total sales at 67,977 units in August, Bajaj Auto’s motorcycle segment gained up to 1.4 per cent, registering sale of 2,83,861 units as against 2,79,911 units in August 2016.
Suzuki Motorcycle India also reported a 54.25 per cent jump in sales at 56,745 units, its best-ever monthly figure.
Auto stocks were buzzing on Friday, with the Nifty Auto Index gaining 1 per cent against a marginal 0.4 per cent rise on Nifty50 Index, after Maruti Suzuki India and Bajaj Auto reported robust August sales.
As far as four-wheelers are concerned, MSI sales surged 26.7 per cent, registering the highest domestic sales with 1,52,000 units from 1,19,931 units in August 2016. “This was mainly driven by sales in the compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Dzire and Baleno which jumped by 62.4 per cent to 74,012 units last month as against 45,579 units in the year-ago period,” the company said.
It also said that sales of utility vehicles, including Gypsy, Ertiga, S-Cross and compact SUV Vitara Brezza increased by 27.6 per cent to 21,442 units in August, from 16,806 units in August 2016. “However, mini segment cars, including Alto and WagonR, witnessed a marginal decline to 35,428 units during the month under review from 35,490 units in August 2016,” MSI added.
Rival, Hyundai Motor India ltd (HMIl) posted 9 per cent increase in domestic sales at 47,103 units in August. It had sold 43,201 units in August 2016. HMIl director, sales and marketing, Rakesh Srivastava said August sales were boosted by strong response to the newly-launched Verna that received more than 7,000 bookings within ten days of launch.
Homegrown utility vehicles major M&M reported 7.01 per cent increase in domestic sales at 39,534 units last month as compared to 36,944 units in August 2016.
M&M president, automotive sector Rajan Wadhera said the upsurge in demand has been due to good monsoons and rural penetration. Compatriot Tata Motors’ passenger vehicles sales in the domestic market grew by 10.29 per cent to 14,340 units last month as against 13,002 units in August 2016.
The sales growth has been on the back of strong performance of new generation cars like Tiago, Tigor and Hexa, Tata Motors president, passenger vehicles business unit, Mayank Pareek said. “With Ganesh Chaturthi, we have entered the festive season and we expect the growth momentum to continue,” he added.
Honda Cars India ltd (HCIl) posted 24.5 per cent jump in its domestic sales in August at 17,365 units as against 13,941 units in corresponding month last year riding on its popular models City and WR-V. “The festive purchases have already begun in some parts of the country and we expect the festival season to further boost our sales numbers in the next two months,” HCIl president and CEO Yoichiro Ueno said.
Ford India, however, saw its domestic sales decline by 9 per cent to 7,777 units last month as against 8,548 in August 2016. “Constraints in the supply chain severely impacted export as well as domestic production of Ford cars in August,” Ford India president and managing director Anurag Mehrotra said.
Similarly, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) reported 6.12 per cent decline in domestic sales at 12,017 units in August as against 12,801 units in August 2016. “The company faced production limitations, which held it back from catching up with high demand. Also, holidays in August led to lesser number of production days,” TKM director and senior vice-president, sales and marketing N Raja said.
“Our sales numbers this month are not truly reflective of the existing customer orders. Post the announcement on potential cess hike, there was a considerable rise in customer enquiries and orders,” he added.