Strong SUV demand brings cheer to India's motown

Leading automakers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors on Friday reported robust sales for February as demand for sports utility vehicles continued to remain strong.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Toyota Kirloskar Motor and Honda Cars also witnessed higher vehicle dispatches to dealers last month.

February turned out to be the third-best month for sales for the industry ever.

The highest-ever passenger vehicle wholesales in a month was reported in January this year with dispatch of 3,94,500 units.

It was followed by October 2023, with wholesales of 391,811 units.

Maruti Suzuki India said its total domestic passenger vehicle sales grew 9 per cent to 160,271 units in February against 147,467 units in the month a year ago.

Sales of utility vehicles, including Brezza, Ertiga, Grand Vitara, and XL6, rose 82 per cent to 61,234 units last month compared to 33,550 units in February 2023.

However, dispatches of mini segment cars, comprising Alto and S-Presso declined to 14,782 units against 21,875 units in February 2023.

Similarly, sales of compact cars, including Baleno, Celerio, Dzire, Ignis, Swift, Tour S, and WagonR, also declined by 10 per cent to 71,627 units compared to 79,898 units in the year-ago month.

In a virtual press conference, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) senior executive officer (marketing and sales) Shashank Srivastava said the passenger vehicle industry saw the best-ever monthly sales performance for February.

"The streak of best-ever monthly sales also continued for the 14th straight month," he noted.

The auto major exceeded the 16 lakh sales mark during the current fiscal year in February, Srivastava said.

"For 2023-24 fiscal, the industry estimate is now 42.1 lakh units and the share of SUVs in this is estimated to be around 50.5 per cent, although in February 2024, it was around 51.5 per cent," he said.

Srivastava noted that SUVs account for 21.5 per cent of the company's total sales at the moment and should go up a little bit in March.

"So, we might fall short of the 24 per cent mark, which we had set for this fiscal year," he noted.

Last month, Tata Motors took over the second spot in terms of passenger vehicle sales with a dispatch of 51,321 units, a growth of 19 per cent year-on-year compared to February 2023.

Hyundai Motor India said its domestic wholesales grew 7 per cent to 50,201 units last month from 47,001 units in the year-ago period.

Hyundai Motor India COO Tarun Garg told reporters that the company's SUV sales continue to do well in the domestic market.

He noted that SUVs now accounted for 67 per cent of the company's overall sales in February.

Garg also noted that rural sales now account for 20 per cent of its overall dispatches in the market.

Mahindra & Mahindra said its passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market rose 40 per cent to 42,401 units last month against 30,358 in February last year.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported its best-ever monthly wholesales at 25,220 units in February.

Honda Cars said its domestic sales stood at 7,142 units in February, a growth of 17 per cent year-on-year.

MG Motor India said its retail sales grew an 8 per cent increase in retail sales at 4,532 units in February compared to the same month last year.

In the two-wheeler space, Hero MotoCorp said its wholesales grew 19 per cent to 4,68,410 units compared to 3,94,460 units in the year-ago period.

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India reported an 86 per cent year-on-year increase in total sales at 4,58,711 units in February.

TVS Motor Company said its wholesales rose 33 per cent year-on-year to 368,424 units in February.

Royal Enfield reported a 6 per cent increase in wholesales to 75,935 units in February.

Suzuki Motorcycle India said its wholesales rose 38 per cent to 97,435 units in February compared to 70,621 units in the same month last year.