Maruti, Hyundai post single-digit rise in June passenger vehicle sales

Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) and Hyundai posted single-digit growth in domestic sales in June, even as the overall passenger vehicle segment crossed the 20 lakh units sales mark for the first time-ever in the first half this year.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported a double-digit growth in dispatches to dealers, while Kia saw a dip in wholesales last month.

MG Motor India also reported a double-digit increase in retail sales in June 2023 compared to the same month last year.

Maruti Suzuki India, the country's largest carmaker, said its domestic passenger vehicle sales rose 8 per cent to 133,027 units in June against 122,685 units in the year-ago period.

Sales of mini cars, comprising Alto and S-Presso, fell marginally to 14,054 units compared to 14,442 units a year ago.

Similarly, sales in the compact segment, models such as Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire, slumped 17 per cent to 64,471 units from 77,746 cars in June 2022.

Utility vehicle sales, including Brezza, Grand Vitara and Ertiga, however, surged over two-fold to 43,404 units compared to 18,860 vehicles in the year-ago month, MSI said.

MSI senior executive officer (marketing and sales) Shashank Srivastava said the automaker grew faster than the industry in June, enabling it to scale up its overall market share by 2.4 per cent to 41 per cent.

The overall passenger vehicle industry dispatches grew by 1.9 per cent to 327,700 lakh units from 321,600 lakh units in the year-ago period, he said.

MSI, on the other hand, dispatched 133,027 lakh passenger vehicles last month, up 8 per cent from 122,685 lakh units in June 2022.

Srivastava noted that the domestic passenger vehicle segment has crossed 20 lakh sales-mark in the first half of the year, a 10 per cent growth over 18.31 lakh units dispatched in the January-June period of 2022.

MSI dispatches to dealers during the period stood at 861,000 units over 787,000 units in the corresponding period a year ago, he added.

He noted that the company's SUV market share rose to 21 per cent in the April-June quarter this fiscal, compared to an 8.5 per cent market share in the same period of the preceding fiscal.

Srivastava noted that with the addition of new models like Jimny and Fronx, the company remained hopeful of attaining around 25 per cent market share in the segment to take the top slot in the segment by the end of the current financial year.

On supply chain shortages, he said the situation is expected to get better in the current quarter.

MSI currently has a pending order backlog of 3.55 lakh units, he stated.

When asked about challenges, Srivastava said that high-interest rates and chances of an erratic monsoon were some of the factors, which the company was closely monitoring.

Rival Hyundai Motor India reported a 2 per cent rise in its domestic sales at 50,001 units last month from 49,001 units in June 2022.

"There is a positive customer traction for all our products and Verna, Creta and Tucson have attained leadership positions in their respective segments in the first half of CY23," HMIL COO Tarun Garg said.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor also said its total wholesales increased 19 per cent to 19,608 units in June compared to 16,512 units in the year-ago period.

Its domestic dispatches stood at 18,237 units while overseas shipments were at 1,371 units.

"Ever since the launch of Urban Cruiser Hyryder and Innova Hycross, we are witnessing continued high acceptance by our customers," TKM vice president (sales and strategic marketing) Atul Sood said.

On the other hand, Kia India said its domestic wholesales declined 19 per cent to 19,391 units in June. The company dispatched 24,024 units to dealers in June 2022.

"We have kept our performance steady with healthy growth, despite the realignment of our manufacturing process to accommodate the development of the new Seltos this month," Kia India National head (sales & marketing) Hardeep Singh Brar said.

With the launch of new Seltos, the automaker aims to be one of the top mid-SUV segment leaders again and hopes for a strong sales surge, he added.

Another automaker, MG Motor India reported a 14 per cent increase in retail sales at 5,125 units in June 2023 against 4,504 units in the same month last year.

"Supplies were disrupted in the wake of cyclone Biparjoy though customer demand should now gain momentum following the monsoon as India gears up for a long festive season," the company said.