While the Transporters Strike impacted deliveries of some carmakers in July, on the whole automotive sales continued to show good growth, as initial numbers for sales in July 2018 came through. While some automakers showed a decline, this was also due to the fact that GST was imposed in July 2017, and many buyers last year had postponed purchases looking to take advantage of any post-GST price cuts, which were initially substantial. Ford India was one of those carmakers impacted slightly, with dispatches both domestic and export for July 2018 coming in at 25,028 units compared to 26,075 units in July 2017.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor also had reduced sales in July 2018 compared to last year at 14424 units versus 17750 in July 2017. But the company said in a statement that comparing sales for the two months of June and July, sales in 2018 were up 36 percent compared to 2017. “We are happy that we have achieved a growth of 36% in the combined sales of June-July as compared to the same period last year. June –July 2017 was a unique case owing to last year’s GST scenario, wherein we supplied as per the market demand which was impacted due to impending GST implementation. With the dedicated efforts of all our stakeholders, we have registered a significant growth in June-July 2018 irrespective of the highest July sales last year. Also Jan –July 2018 we have posted a growth of 13% as compared to first seven months last year”, N Raja Deputy Managing Director, TKM was quoted as saying.
Two-Wheelers which were less impacted by GST, Royal Enfield, makers of the Bullet motorcycle saw domestic sales rise seven percent to 67001 in July 2018 from 63157 in July 2017. Domestic two-wheeler sales for TVS Motor also showed an impressive climb from 219,316 units in July 2017 to 247,382 units in July 2018, a growth of 13 percent. Suzuki Motorcycle India, the Japanese company being one of the smaller players grew dramatically to 53,321 units in July 2018 from 34,038 units last July 2017, a growth of 56.6 percent, their highest ever monthly figures on the back of some new launches such as the latest editions of the Gixxer.
Commercial vehicle manufacturer, VE Commercial Vehicles said that it sold 5964 units in July 2018 compared to 4363 units last year registering a growth of 36.6 per cent. Commercial Vehicle sales have climbed significantly for all brands this year indicating signs of a cyclical economic recovery.