Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra and Hyundai post record October sales
Several carmakers reported their best-ever monthly numbers for October, as festive demand through Navratri and Dussehra carried into the weeks before Dhanteras and Diwali.
The Global Sun Desk ·
Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hyundai Motor India and Kia India all reported their highest-ever monthly sales in October, according to figures the companies released on Sunday, 1 November. Autocar India said passenger vehicle registrations in India crossed the 5 lakh mark in the month, which included the Navratri and Dussehra buying period.
What the companies reported
Maruti Suzuki sold 2,16,789 vehicles in the domestic market, up 20 per cent from a year earlier and its highest ever for a month. Including supplies to other manufacturers, the total was 2,26,248. Utility vehicle sales were 97,787, up 26 per cent, and passenger cars 1,00,877, up 18 per cent. From April to October, its domestic sales including those supplies were 13,72,771, up 29 per cent.
Mahindra sold 73,338 SUVs in India, up 2 per cent and the highest in its history, and its total vehicle sales of 1,31,109 were also a record. Velusamy R, president of its automotive business, called October a landmark month for the company. Hyundai's domestic sales rose 16.7 per cent to 62,799, its best ever, with the Venue selling 13,017 units, a record for that model. Tarun Garg, Hyundai's managing director and chief executive, attributed the record to strong festive demand, Business Today reported.
Kia India's domestic wholesales were 33,462, up 13.22 per cent and a second straight monthly record after 32,017 in September.
Tata Motors, electric vehicles and the data
Tata Motors' passenger vehicle division sold 73,894 vehicles in India, up 21 per cent, and Autocar India's table kept it in second place ahead of Mahindra. The company's electric vehicle sales, domestic and international combined, rose 75 per cent to 16,244 from 9,286. Tata did not give a separate domestic EV figure.
Not every company moved in the same direction. Autocar India's table showed Toyota's domestic sales down 26.67 per cent at 29,521, and Honda's registrations down 15.09 per cent at 5,429. The table is not strictly like for like. Autocar India notes that Honda's registration figure and its earlier total rest on different reporting methods, and Kia is shown on wholesale dispatches while Skoda Auto Volkswagen India is shown on registrations from the VAHAN database.
Wholesale figures count vehicles sent by the factory to dealers, while registrations record vehicles actually bought and put on the road. Festive months tend to be the busiest for both, but a gap can build up if dealers hold more stock than customers take home.
Dhanteras and Diwali fall in November, which means dealers will be watching whether the buying seen in October holds through the festival period itself. Business Today reported that Mahindra, which has a refreshed range, and Hyundai both pointed to festive demand, and that Hyundai expects its newly launched Bayon to add momentum.