Leading automakers Tata Motors, Hyundai, and Maruti Suzuki reported solid sales for February on Friday, indicating that demand for sport utility vehicles remained high.
The number of vehicles distributed to dealers by Mahindra & Mahindra, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, and Honda Cars increased last month as well.
According to industry sales data, February was the third-best month ever.
3,94,500 passenger vehicle dispatches in January of this year became the highest-ever monthly passenger vehicle wholesales.
October 2023, with wholesales of 3,91,811 units, came next.
According to Maruti Suzuki India, the company’s total domestic passenger vehicle sales increased by 9% in February to 1,60,271 units from 1,47,467 units in the same month last year.
Utility vehicle sales, which include the Brezza, Ertiga, Grand Vitara, and XL6, increased by 82% to 61,234 units in February 2023 from 33,550 units in February 2023.
However, compared to February 2023, the number of small segment cars—which include the Alto and S-Presso-dispatched decreased to 14,782 from 21,875 units.
In contrast, the number of compact cars sold in the month of the previous year fell to 71,627 from 79,898. These cars include the Baleno, Celerio, Dzire, Ignis, Swift, Tour S, and WagonR.
Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer (Marketing and Sales) of Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), reported the best-ever monthly sales performance for the passenger vehicle sector in a virtual information conference.
“The streak of best-ever monthly sales also continued for the 14th straight month,” he said.
According to Srivastava, the automaker surpassed the 16 lakh sales milestone in February of the current fiscal year.
“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%, although in February 2024, it was around 51.5%,” he stated.
SUV sales currently make up 21.5% of the company’s total sales, according to Srivastava, although they should increase somewhat in March.
“So, we might fall short of the 24% mark, which we had set for this fiscal year,” he said.
With the dispatch of 51,321 passenger vehicles last month, Tata Motors surpassed all other manufacturers in second place in terms of sales, a 19% year-over-year increase from February 2023.
Domestic wholesale sales for Hyundai Motor India increased by 7% to 50,201 units last month from 47,001 units during the same period last year.
Tarun Garg, the COO of Hyundai Motor India, informed reporters that the company’s SUV sales are still doing well in the Indian market.
He mentioned that in February, SUVs made up 67% of the company’s total sales.
Garg added that 20% of its total market dispatches currently come from sales in rural areas.
Mahindra & Mahindra reported that, compared to 30,358 units in February of last year, its passenger car sales in the domestic market increased by 40% to 42,401 units last month.
With 25,220 units sold in February, Toyota Kirloskar Motor had its highest monthly wholesale sales to date.
According to Honda Cars, the company’s domestic sales increased by 17% year over year in February to 7,142 vehicles.
When comparing February’s retail sales to the same month the previous year, MG Motor India reported an 8% increase to 4,532 units.
Hero MotoCorp reported that its two-wheeler wholesale sales increased by 19% to 4,68,410 units from 3,94,460 units in the same time last year.
In February, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India reported total sales of 4,58,711 units, an 86% year-over-year growth.
According to TVS Motor Company, its February wholesale sales increased 33% year over year to 3,68,424 units.
In February, Royal Enfield saw a 6% rise in wholesale sales to 75,935 units.
In February of this year, Suzuki Motorcycle India reported that its wholesale sales increased by 38% to 97,435 units from 70,621 units in the same month previous year.
