Maruti, Hyundai report muted sales in October

Auto majors Maruti Suzuki India and Hyundai reported muted sales performance in October as the companies curtailed dispatches to dealers in order to cut inventory build up.

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said its total domestic passenger vehicle wholesales were at 159,591 units last month compared with 168,047 units in the year-ago month, a decline of 5 per cent.

The company, however, reported its highest-ever monthly sales, including exports, in October at 206,434 units, a 4 per cent year-on-year growth over the same month last year.

MSI senior executive officer (marketing and sales) Partho Banerjee said the company saw its highest-ever retail sales in an October.

"All our models had very good retail sales.

"As a result of which we have corrected our network stock by almost more than 40,000 units.

"We calibrated our production supplies, and now our network stock is almost one month," he said.

MSI said sales of its mini-segment cars, comprising Alto and S-Presso, declined to 10,687 units from 14,568 units in October 2023.

Similarly, sales of compact cars, including Baleno, Celerio, Dzire, Ignis, Swift, Tour S, and WagonR, declined to 65,948 units over 80,662 units in the year-ago month.

Utility vehicle sales, comprising Brezza, Grand Vitara, Ertiga and XL6, however, rose to 70,644 units last month compared to 59,147 units earlier.

Hyundai Motor India said its domestic sales were up marginally to 55,568 units last month as compared to 55,128 units in October 2023.

"We witnessed a strong demand for our SUV portfolio during festive period, leading to our highest-ever monthly SUV sales at 37,902 units, including the highest-ever monthly domestic sales of the Hyundai CRETA at 17,497 units," Hyundai Motor India chief operating officer Tarun Garg said.

SUVs remain a cornerstone of the company's lineup, representing 68 per cent of the total monthly sales in October 2024, with similar penetration in urban as well as rural markets, he added.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) said it dispatched 54,504 utility vehicles in the domestic market, a growth of 25 per cent over 43,708 units in the year-ago period.

"We are excited to have clocked the highest-ever SUV sales of 54,504 vehicles in October, a growth of 25 per cent and the highest-ever total volume of 96,648, a growth of 20 per cent," M&M president automotive division Veejay Nakra said.

The month began on a fantastic note with Thar ROXX garnering 1.7 lakh bookings in the first 60 minutes and the positive momentum continued across the SUV portfolio through the festive season, he added.

Tata Motors said its domestic PV sales were down at 48,131 units compared to 48,337 units in the year-ago month.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor said its domestic sales stood at 28,138 units last month as compared with 20,542 units in October 2023.

JSW MG Motor India reported a 31 per cent year-on-year rise in wholesales at 7,045 units in October 2024.

In the two-wheeler space, Royal Enfield said its wholesales in the domestic market grew 26 per cent year-on-year to 1,01,886 units in October.

Overall, the company reported sales of 110,574 units, a growth of 31 per cent over the same month last year.

"The month of October has been truly remarkable for Royal Enfield, we have broken records with a whopping 1,00,000+ sales in a single month!

"This is our biggest and milestone festive season sale and surpasses all our previous sales performance records," Royal Enfield CEO B Govindarajan stated.

TVS Motor Company said its domestic two-wheeler sales grew 13 per cent, increasing from 344,957 units in October 2023 to 390,489 units in October 2024.