New Launches, Festive Season Led PV Makers Post Robust Sales In September 2017

Indian passenger vehicle manufacturers have posted healthy domestic sales for the month of September 2017.

Owing to increase in GST (goods and services tax) cess rates, and the resulting price hike among premium models, September 2017 was ripe with uncertainties. However, what worked in favour of the manufacturers is the ongoing festive season and the new vehicle launches.

Also Read: GST Cess Amendment: Here Is How Much Extra You Have To Pay To Buy Your Favourite Car

“Major car manufacturers saw good growth momentum continuing in September on festive season demand and strong performance from new launches,” said ICICI Securities.

This performance is likely to continue for October 2017 as the celebration of the festivals of Dhanteras and Diwali, considered an auspicious time for purchases, is going to fall in the month.

Maruti Suzuki India

Country’s largest car manufacturer has registered 9.6 per cent growth in its total domestic passenger vehicle sales and stood at 150,521 units as against 137,277 units during September 2016. 

Maruti Suzuki’s passenger car category recorded maximum growth at 11.1 per cent with the compact segment (Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno, Dzire) alone posting 44.7 per cent hike in monthly sales. However, the automaker’s mini (Alto, WagonR) and mid-size car (Ciaz) segments experienced downfall of 13.3 per cent and 14.4 per cent, respectively.

The utility vehicle category, which comprise of Ertiga, Vitara Brezza, S-Cross, sold 19,900 units when compared with 18,423 units, thereby witnessing year-on-year growth of 8 per cent.

Maruti Suzuki Vans’ sales grew by 0.9 per cent at 13,735 units.

According to Shrikant Akolkar (Research Analyst- Automobiles, Angel Broking), “MSIL’s September numbers have surprised us negatively. Total volume growth was at 9.3 per cent to 163,071 units, this was 3 per cent below our expectations. While mini segment volumes declined yoy, compact segment volumes have shown a 45 per cent yoy growth.”

“MSIL has recently said that it is adding another shift in Gujarat plant to ease the capacity constraints. The Baleno and Brezza continue to have a strong order book of about 18-20 weeks. While the growth has slowed down a bit, this could be due to the slower economic activity, post GST as well as the cess hike taken earlier in September 2017. We expect growth to pick-up in the month of October 2017 on the occasion of festive season, maintain accumulate with a price target of Rs 8,666.”

Hyundai Motor India

Country’s second largest carmaker sold 50,028 units in the domestic market during September 2017, 7,423 units more than what sold in September 2016.

Rakesh Srivastava, Director - Sales and Marketing, Hyundai Motor India Ltd said, “Hyundai achieved landmark sales of 50,028 units with growth of 17.4 per cent, on the multiplier effect of phenomenal performance of newly launched Next Gen Verna with sales of over 6,000 units along with strong pull for Creta, Elite i20 and Grand i10 in this festive season.” 

Launched on August 22, Next Gen Hyundai Verna received over 7,000 bookings with 70,000 inquires as on August 31.

Owing to hike in GST Cess rates, the automaker increased prices of some of its vehicles within a range of 2-5 per cent, during the month ended 30 September, 2017.

Mahindra & Mahindra

The PV segment (which includes utility vehicles, cars and vans) sold 25,327 vehicles in September 2017, as against 20,537 vehicles during September 2016, registering a growth of 23 per cent. 

While Mahindra utility vehicle sales grew by 26 per cent, the combined sales cars and vans de-grew by 8 per cent.

Rajan Wadhera, President, Automotive Sector, M&M Ltd said, “The auto industry has witnessed a buoyant demand in September leading up to the festive season. This upsurge has been witnessed both in urban and rural markets. At Mahindra, we are very happy with our September 2017 performance with our passenger vehicle sales having grown at 23 per cent.” 

“We are particularly happy with the performance of our Scorpio brand which has had its highest monthly sales in September, since inception. Going forward, we are confident of sustaining a growth momentum for the rest of the festive season,” added Wadhera.  

Honda Cars India

Led by strong performance of Honda City and WR-V, Honda Cars India Ltd recorded monthly domestic sales of 18,257 units in September 2017 against 15,034 units in the corresponding month last year, registering a growth of 21 per cent.

Honda City led the automaker’s sales, with 6,010 units sold during the month. This was followed by WR-V at 4,834 units, and Jazz at 3,001 units.

Yoichiro Ueno, President and CEO, Honda Cars India Ltd said, “HCIL is witnessing one of its fastest growth years in sales, backed by strong performance of our latest models Honda City and WR-V. We have had a good start to the festive season, clocking strong sales in September. With the festive purchase on full-swing, our sales outlook for the season is very promising." 

Tata Motors

At the back of growing festive demand across segments, increased positive customer sentiments, introduction of new products and strong customer engagement initiatives, in September 2017, Tata Motors passenger vehicles, recorded sales of 17286 units, growth of 18 per cent, over September 2016. 

This was augmented by the strong growth momentum for new generation vehicles Tiago, Tigor and Hexa. The newly launched compact SUV, Tata Nexon has also received a tremendous response in the market, informed the company in an official statement.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor

Toyota Kirloskar Motor sold a total of 12,335 units in the domestic market. In the month of September 2016, Toyota Kirloskar Motor sold a total of 12,067 units in the domestic market. 

N Raja, Director & Sr. Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “The festive season has brought a positive spur in the customer buying sentiment. Customer orders continue to be strong despite the price hike of products in line with cess hike this month. New Fortuner has seen overwhelming customer demand even after the impact of price rise and after a year of its launch.”

To perk up the festive cheer, the company has introduced the limited edition Etios Cross X-Edition and Fortuner TRD Sportivo with new features. Additionally, Toyota has also introduced festive offers across its dealerships for customers on Etios series and Corolla Altis. 

“We expect the growth momentum to continue and thank our customers for the trust and admiration they have been showing for our products time and again. With no further change in price of Camry Hybrid post cess hike, we hope that the customer demand will improve in the upcoming months and customers will continue to appreciate the benefits of clean & green-friendly HV (Hybrid Vehicle) technology,” added Raja.

Ford India

Ford India’s domestic wholesales in September stood at 8,769 vehicles, as against 9,018 units a year ago. It is the only PV maker to post negative sales in the said month.

“New model launch planning along with ongoing constraints in supply chain continued to impact our wholesale in September,” said Anurag Mehrotra, president & managing director, Ford India. “We believe these should be addressed by fourth quarter helping us move back into the growth trajectory.” 

During September, Mahindra Group and Ford Motor Company agreed to explore a strategic alliance, designed to leverage the benefits of Ford’s global reach and expertise and Mahindra’s scale in India and successful operating model. 

Volkswagen India

Volkswagen sold a total of 4,603 units, in September 2017, as compared to 3,929 units sold in the corresponding month of the previous year.

Steffen Knapp, Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Group Sales India Pvt Ltd said, “The advent of the festive season for the year 2017 witnessed major changes in the applicable tax structure and also discussions on various policies for the industry. In spite of this mixed-bag of changing customer sentiments, in this season, we have registered a growth of 17.15 per cent over the same period last year. This clearly reflects the trust that our customers have bestowed upon us and made their quintessential choice to drive safer cars for the Indian roads.”

In the month of September 2017, Volkswagen announced the start of production for the New Passat at its Aurangabad facility in Maharashtra and the carline is scheduled for the launch in Q4, 2017. 

In India, the New Passat will be the first Volkswagen sedan to be based on the modern MQB platform and will mark the presence of the brand in the premium luxury sedan segment.