NEW DELHI: After witnessing a rapid slump in sales in May 2021 due to the second Covid-19 wave and subsequent regional lockdowns, carmakers made a strong comeback in June after strict restrictions were lifted by state governments, leading to a steep increase in sales driven by pent-up demand.
The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki sold 124,280 passenger vehicles (PVs) in the domestic market last month, registering a 278 per cent month-on-month (m-o-m) growth from 32,903 units in May 2021, and a 142 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) growth from 51,254 units in June 2020.
Like May 2021, sales in June 2020 were severely impacted by Covid-19 lockdowns.
Meanwhile, rival Hyundai Motor, which launched its Creta-based seven-seat Alcazar SUV on June 18, sold 40,496 units last month, a growth of 90 per cent y-o-y, while Tata Motors’ PV sales grew by 111 per cent y-o-y to 24,110 units.
Sequentially, Hyundai and Tata reported a 62 per cent and 59 per cent increase in June 2021 sales respectively.
Shailesh Chandra, president, PV Business Unit, Tata Motors, said, “The PV industry’s sequential growth momentum got adversely impacted in Q1FY22, owing to restrictions imposed across the country to break-the-chain of Covid transmission even though the industry is likely to record strong growth numbers off a low base on a year on year basis.”
He added that the PV industry continues to witness uncertainty on account of global semi-conductor shortage and rising commodity prices.
Veejay Nakra, CEO, Automotive Division at Mahindra & Mahindra, also touched upon the semi-conductor issue.
“As we come out of the second wave of the pandemic, by and large our supply chain has stabilized except for the global semiconductor issue, which still continues to be a challenge that we are addressing as top priority,” he said.
He added, however, that with the opening up of the market in a phased manner, they have been seeing a boost in demand in both urban and rural areas.
142 per cent year-on-year increase in June sales recorded by Maruti Suzuki
90 per cent year-on-year increase in June sales recorded by Hyundai Motor