Indian auto sector registers ‘highest-ever’ passenger vehicles sale in May 2023, SIAM data shows

Stock Market Today: Bajaj Auto, TVS, Hero MotoCorp, M&M share price gained more than 1% on Friday. Bajaj TVS, Hero reported 22-24% y-o-y growth in two-wheeler sales. M&M, Maruti, Tata Motors passenger Vehicle sales grew 12-30% y-o-y. Commercial Vehicles, Tractor however saw tepid sales growth.

In April 2023, the overall automotive sales came at 16,65,805 units, which is a growth of 16 percent YoY, but a flat growth compared to March 2023.

As per industry estimates, as many as 327,700 units were sold last month, an increase of 1.9% over 326,600 units sold in the same period last fiscal. Automakers in India mostly report wholesale dispatches from factories to dealerships and not retail sales to customers.

2023 was the third straight year of record sales for Tata Motors, which boasts the widest range of electric vehicles in its portfolio. Sales last year totalled 553,000, led by its commanding position in the compact SUV segment and strong growth in hatches, despite the hatch segment degrowing at an industry level , said Shailesh Chandra, managing director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility.

Sales of passenger vehicles in the month of June rose 2.2 per cent to 3.27 lakh units while two-wheeler sales saw an increase of 1.7 per cent at 13.30 lakh units, as per Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) data released on Wednesday.

The pandemic depressed the passenger vehicle market across the world. India emerged as the fastest-growing automobile market for a key reason. Semiconductor chips, important components for cars, went scarce due to the pandemic disrupting supply chains. And when the pandemic effect started waning, there was a big scramble for those chips. India was able to produce cars faster than other major markets because its cars have fewer chips.

More than 4.1 million cars, sedans and utility vehicles were sold in the domestic market last year, an 8.2% increase from the 3.79 million vehicles sold in 2022, showed data from industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) issued on Friday. Growth was powered by demand for utility vehicles, which comprised 57.4% of total sales.

Tata Motors said its total domestic sales declined by 4 per cent to 68,514 units last month, as compared with 71,467 units in the year-ago period. The auto major said its passenger vehicle sales rose 13 per cent to 47,107 units last month, as compared to 41,630 units in the same month last year.

Tata Motors plans to increase prices for both internal combustion engine and electric models by an average of 0.6% from July 17, citing the impact of past input cost fluctuations. Customers who book vehicles before July 16 and receive deliveries by July 31 will be exempt from the price hike.