Passenger vehicle sales rise 13.5% in May, Maruti Suzuki gains market share

As many as 334,800 cars, sedans and utility vehicles were dispatched from factories to dealerships in May, up 13.5% year on year. This was the highest-yet dispatches recorded in the month of May, historically, even though some companies still face supply delays in semiconductors and electronic components.

Automakers in India mostly report wholesale dispatches from factories and not retail sales to customers.

Market leader Maruti Suzuki posted a 15.5% growth to dispatch 143,708 units in May. Shortage of electronic components did have a minor impact on its production of vehicles but the company said it took all possible measures to minimise the impact.

Shashank Srivastava, senior executive officer (marketing and sales) at Maruti Suzuki, said the company “outperformed” the industry on back of new launches in the SUV segment.

“The Fronx gave a good boost to our numbers. We managed to increase our market share by 1%,” he said. “We have a complete portfolio of SUVs now and are on track to grow our footprint in the SUV segment and should close the fiscal year with market share upwards of 45-46%.”Maruti Suzuki currently has pending orders for 365,000 units.Rival Hyundai, too, managed to grow volumes by 15% to 48,601 units last month.

“We are glad to announce a healthy double-digit sales growth for the month of May 2023 fuelled by our blockbuster SUVs, Hyundai Creta and Hyundai Venue,” Tarun Garg, COO of Hyundai Motor India said. “The recently launched all-new Hyundai Verna again clocked strong numbers, while Hyundai Exter, our soon-to-be-launched SUV, continues to ramp up excitement amongst customers in the SUV space.”

For homegrown auto majors Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra, sales went up by 6% (to 45,878 units) and 22% (to 32,886 units), respectively, last month.

“We continue our growth trend, backed by strong demand in SUVs,” said Veejay Nakra, president (automotive division) at M&M. “Sales volume for both SUVs and pick-ups (though) were restricted by a short-term disruption in engine-related parts at the supplier end. The semiconductor supply constraints on specific parts like Air Bag ECU, continued during the month too,” he added.

Meanwhile, Kia India reported a decline of 22% on year to sell 18,766 units in May. “Although we faced some production limitations due to our plant annual maintenance shutdown for a week in May which impacted our numbers, we are confident of strong performance in coming months,” said Hardeep Singh Brar, national head, sales and marketing, at Kia India.

Toyota Kirloskar more than doubled volumes to 20,410 units last month. “As we look forward, given the sustained momentum, we continue to be optimistic for the rest of the year by prioritising the customers’ needs,” said Atul Sood, vice-president (sales and strategic marketing) at Toyota Kirloskar Motor.

Demand remained healthy in the two-wheeler segment as well with TVS Motor Company registering a growth of 32% to sell 252,690 units in May. Royal Enfield also saw volumes go up by 32% to 70,795 units last month.

In the commercial vehicle segment, market leader Tata Motors registered a dip of 12% to sell 27,570 units last month. Rival Ashok Leyland saw sales fall marginally by 1% to 12,378 units.

In the farm equipment sector, M&M reported a decline of 3% to sell 33,113 tractors in May. However, Hemant Sikka, president – farm equipment sector, Mahindra & Mahindra, said, “Record high rabi crop output, good reservoir levels, improved terms of trade for farmers, and IMD’s prediction of a normal southwest monsoon, augurs well for the upcoming kharif season.”