Passenger vehicles sales gather speed on Dhanteras

Senior industry executives and dealers ET spoke with said retail sales would have been even stronger if automakers were able to produce vehicles in line with underlying demand. With the industry still sitting on orders of 800,000-850,000 units, retail sales are expected to be robust in the remaining part of the year with increased component supplies helping automakers to step up production as well.

Dhanteras is celebrated as the first day to mark the beginning of Diwali. Hindus, Jains and Sikhs buy brass, silver and gold on this day as it is regarded as one of the most auspicious days to purchase expensive objects. This year, Dhanteras was celebrated on October 22 and 23.

Market leader Maruti Suzuki is estimated to have delivered 21,000 units by the end of day two, up 8-9% over the same period last year. Tata Motors said on Sunday that its deliveries over the two days doubled compared with 2021.

Automakers saw robust demand for new models, especially SUVs, such as the Maruti Suzuki Brezza and Grand Vitara, Hyundai Venue, Mahindra Scorpio and Tata Nexon.

“Our Dhanteras retails have increased over last year, but are down by about a fifth when compared with average sales seen in the pre-Covid years,” said Shashank Srivastava, senior executive director (marketing and sales) at Maruti Suzuki. The company currently has bookings for 450,000 units.

“We are delighted with the growth this festive season. On the back of robust demand for our new range of cars and SUVs, our deliveries during Dhanteras more than doubled … For the festive period so far, our retail growth has been 43% in FY23 compared to last year. Demand has been well supported this year with a significant ramp up in supply,” said Shailesh Chandra, managing director of Tata Motors PVs and Tata passenger electric mobility.

Two-wheeler makers saw improved sales across urban, semi-urban and rural markets, especially at the entry level where demand has been depressed for nearly three years due to a rise in acquisition, insurance, and running costs since the transition to BS-VI standards.

Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Association president Manish Raj Singhania said he expected strong retail sales across all categories of vehicles this festive period.

Overall, passenger vehicle makers are expected to close the fiscal year with sales just shy of 4 million units. Two-wheeler sales are forecast to increase by 16-17%.

Maruti Suzuki’s Srivastava said with passenger vehicle sales clocking record numbers so far this year, the Dhanteras volumes appeared slightly out of line with expectations but mostly on account of production challenges related to most sought-after models. The industry though is on track to register record sales this year. “There is a huge order backlog in the industry. It will be a record year for passenger vehicle sales. Only after pending orders are delivered, we will be able to assess the impact on demand in the coming months,” he said.

With new launches and sustained strength on the demand side, for the first time in history as many as 1,027,000 passenger vehicles were sold in the local market last quarter, up 38.5% from a year earlier.