Maruti-Suzuki revealed that net profits for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 had grown marginally to Rs 1,371.6 crore versus Rs 1,458.6 crore in the same period last year. Sales however for the quarter grew to Rs 17,689.3 crore mainly on account of selling 393,130 vehicles in the quarter primarily in the domestic market. Speaking to the media after the results were announced, RC Bhargava, Chairman of Maruti-Suzuki India Limited made it clear that he did not view the restoration of demand as a ‘rebound’ and argued that some of the increased sales were also due to the extremely weak first quarter. He also said that these sales did not even take into account the demand for the festive season which began mid-October. It was revealed that the company sold 96,700 vehicles during the Navratri-period and with Dhanteras and Diwali in November as well as the inventory reduction sales in December, October-December quarter ought to be very positive as well. However, Bhargava refused to predict how sales would develop post December as he believed that the true impact of the pandemic and lockdown might be felt in 2021.
Additionally, while Maruti-Suzuki, the country’s largest carmaker saw commercial and fleet sales decline from seven percent of its sales to just 2.4 percent as behavioural patterns change and commuters show an increasing preference for personal mobility. In addition, Maruti-Suzuki management claimed that the company had not been adversely impacted by the decision to withdraw from the diesel market following the introduction of Bharat Stage - 6 emission norms from April and in fact had grown marketshare to 49.4 percent in the relevant quarter up from 48.3 percent and Bhargava also attributed this to increased demand for CNG vehicles. He also said that there is no need for any demand side reduction in GST rates at the current time as “we are selling everything that we are producing”.