NEW DELHI: The global supply chain constraints continue to affect Maruti Suzuki (MSIL) and Hyundai Motor as the two big carmakers once again reported a double-digit fall in their monthly sales. MSIL, which sells one in every two cars sold in the country, dispatched 109,726 units of passenger vehicles (PVs) in the domestic market in November 2021 as against 135,775 units sold in the same month last year, registering a decline of 19%. Similarly, Hyundai reported a 24% decline in its domestic sales to 37,001 units in November 2021, against 48,800 units in the same month last year.
“The shortage of electronic components had a minor impact on the production of vehicles during the month. The shortage primarily affected the production of vehicles sold in the domestic market,” MSIL said in a regulatory filing. Going ahead, this shortage will continue for Maruti as it would be producing around 80% to 85% of normal capacity in December 2021.
While Maruti and Hyundai are struggling to ramp up production, two home-grown auto firms — Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra — continue to register growth. Tata Motors’ PV sales during November rose 38% year-on-year to 29,778 units. This also means that the gap between Tata and Hyundai has now come down to less than 8,000 units. If Tata manages to outsell Hyundai in the coming months and maintain its lead, it will become India’s second largest carmaker.
Mahindra’s PV sales stood at 19,458 vehicles in November 2021, a growth of 7% year-on-year. “Our growth in SUVs continues with an 8% increase in the month of November. The demand remains strong across our product portfolio of SUVs, pickups, and small commercial vehicles,” said Veejay Nakra, Chief Executive Officer, Automotive Division, M&M.
According to analysts at LKP Securities, Mahindra and Tata are handling the chip issues better than MSIL, hence their sales are seeing a good growth. The other carmakers that registered annual growth in November 2021 sales are Toyota Kirloskar(53%) and Nissan India (161%) albeit a low base. Carmakers such as Kia Motors, Honda Cars India and MG witnessed a significant slump in sales last month, down between 30-50% year-on-year. Kia, which has become a serious player in India’s 4-wheeler
market, reported a 32% drop in November 2021 sales to 14,214 units.