India’s automobile industry vroomed back into life in October with both four-wheelers and two-wheelers doing exceptionally well.
Broker ShareKhan said much of the growth can be attributed to inventory replenishment ahead of the festival season.
Two-wheeler sales rose 11.9% in October compared to the previous month, while cars, vans and SUVs reported a 9.2% increase, according to numbers compiled by Sharekhan. The tractor segment, meanwhile, saw a 17.7% jump.
The numbers showed that the recent momentum seen in premium vehicles continue to be intact, even the mass segment seems to be seeing some movement this festive season, going by sales trends. However, noted Sharekhan, the volume of commercial vehicles, such as pick-up trucks and lorries, has declined 5.7% on a month-on-month basis during September, which was deemed to be a strong month in terms of sales.
Four-wheelers
As has been the trend in recent months, the 9.2% increase in the passenger vehicle secgment was fueled by strong demand in the utility vehicle segment. All the top players in this segment recorded favorable sales momentum, with Maruti Suzuki Ltd topping the charts.
In the passenger vehicle segment — comprising cars, vans and SUVs — Maruti Suzuki reported the strongest growth at 10.8%, followed by Tata Motors at 6.7% and Mahindra & Mahindra at 5.9%. The superlative performance of Maruti Suzuki was ascribed to the company’s increasing focus on SUVs.
Maruti Suzuki broke the company’s all-time record by selling 1.99 lakh units. Excluding exports too, it was a record month for Maruti Suzuki with 1.72 lakh units sold in the country.
Two-wheelers
When it comes to the two-wheeler segment, the performance was mainly driven by domestic sales while exports took a back seat.
Bajaj Auto Ltd saw the best performance with a 24.5% jump in sales, followed by TVS Motor Co with 8.7% and Royal Enfield with 7.5% and Honda Motorcycles and Scooters at 7.2%.
In terms of market share, Hero Motocorp was at the top with 5.75 lakh units sold in October, followed by Bajaj Auto with 4.71 lakhs, TVS Motor with 4.35 lakh.
Sharekhan said the 11.9% month-on-month jump in two-wheeler volumes was faster than the 7.2% increase it had penciled in, despite subdued exports.
“OEMs and dealers are indicating a double-digit kind of growth during the ongoing festive season and observing an improvement in demand for entry-level products also,” it said, adding that entry-level and rural demand does tend to pick up pace during the festive period.
“..however, the sustainability of demand from the rural segment is critical. Currently, most players are playing the premiumisation trend in the domestic market and enhancing their product portfolio according to customer preferences,” it noted.