New Delhi: Owing to the high base of last two years, passenger vehicle (PV) wholesales during June 2024 was in a slow lane for top three OEMs. Industry estimates suggest dispatches in the domestic market during the last month remained muted at 3.40 lakh units, when compared to 3.28 lakh units in June last year, marking a growth of just about 4%. When compared to May 2024, PV sales in June witnessed a drop.
According to Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer- Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki, extreme heatwave in several parts of the country and general elections in different phases caused customers to keep away from making purchase decisions during June. He said Maruti took special measures to avoid this, including evening campaigns and extended working hours of the dealerships.
Sales of Maruti’s mini cars, including Alto and S-Presso, dropped to 9,395 units from 14,054 units in June 2023. Sales of compact cars, including Baleno, Celerio, Dzire, Ignis, Swift, Tour S and WagonR, stood at 64,049 units against 64,471 units in the year-ago month. Utility vehicles sales, comprising Brezza, Grand Vitara, Ertiga and XL6 clocked sales of 52,373 units in June this year compared to 43,404 units a year earlier.
Going forward, Banerjee expects the momentum to pick up with the forecast of a normal monsoon and record kharif output. According to him, Maruti Suzuki currently has an inventory of 37-38 days across the country. The stock levels should ideally be of 30 days, so currently they are “a little high, but almost normal.”
Tarun Garg, Chief Operating Officer, Hyundai Motor India said SUVs have been contributing strongly to the company’s sales.
The maker of Nexon reported a 8% YoY dip in domestic sales during June. Talking about the performance of the industry during April to June period, Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility said, “In Q1 FY25, after a boost in demand in the first half of April, due to festivities in some parts of country, the PV industry saw a decline in retails (registrations) in the months of May and June, influenced by the general elections and heat waves across the country.”
The electric vehicle (EV) industry was affected by the broader industry trend and the impact of significant preponement fleet sales in Q4FY24, due to expiry of FAME-II subsidy in March 2024. Consequently, while the personal segment retails have grown slightly, there was a sharp decline witnessed in the fleet segment, which is expected to recover in the coming quarters, he said.
Going forward, Chandra foresees recovery of demand, as enquiries have remained strong despite low retails in the past two months. This strong enquiry pipeline, in addition to the onset of the festive season from August, augurs well for the industry.
Meanwhile, OEMs like Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Toyota Kirloskar reported double-digit growth owing to pent-up demand and a portfolio consisting of majorly utility vehicles, a category in preference for Indian consumers.
Veejay Nakra, President- Automotive Division, M&M said, “We sold a total of 40,022 SUVs in June, a growth of 23%. June has been a momentous month, as we rolled out the 200,000th XUV700 from our facility.”
Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported its best-ever total monthly sales as its wholesales grew by 40% last month. Domestic dispatches stood at 25,752 units, while exports were at 1,722 units.
