Passenger vehicle sales remain robust in April
NEW DELHI: Passenger vehicle (PV) sales remained at healthy levels in April 2023 amidst concerns that the growth rate is likely to slow down in financial year 2023-24 after a blockbuster FY2023.
The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki reported a 9% growth in April sales while Tata Motors and Hyundai sales grew by 13% each last month. Maruti Suzuki’s domestic sales rose 9% to 143,558 units as against 132,248 units in April 2022. The carmaker’s total sales, including exports, grew 7% to 160,529 units.
According to Rohan Kanwar Gupta, Vice President & Sector Head - Corporate Ratings, ICRA Limited, domestic wholesale volumes are estimated to have been 3.4 lakh units last month, representing a marginal growth on a sequential basis and a healthy 15% growth on a year-on-year basis.
“Even as the production levels of OEMs remained at healthy levels, they continue to be impacted to an extent by a shortage of electronic components,” said Gupta. PV sales grew 26.73% to a record high of over 38.9 lakh units in FY23, riding on a demand surge for utility vehicles, according to data shared by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). Most industry representative expects growth to slow down to single digit in FY2024 on account of the high base and increase in ownership cost.
Hyundai India’s domestic sales grew by 13% to 49,701 units in April 2023 while its closest rival, Tata Motors, also registered a 13% growth in domestic sales to 47,007 units. Tarun Garg, COO of Hyundai Motor India said that their all-new Hyundai VERNA has received an overwhelming response and they look forward to carrying the momentum with the soon-to-be-launched SUV EXTER. Kia India’s dispatches jumped 22% to 23,216 units in April while MG Motor reported an over twofold rise in retail sales at 4,551 units last month. Toyota Kirloskar, however, registered a marginal dip in sales to 14,162 units.
“The supply chain constraints remain in a few models; however, the company is working towards meeting customer demand. The coming months are expected to bring in further improvements on this front,” MG Motor India said in a statement.
