Over two million SUVs had been bought final yr, fetching 49% of whole gross sales in comparison with 42% in 2022, stated Shashank Srivastava, senior govt director at Maruti Suzuki, the nation’s high carmaker. In line with Srivastava, the common PV carried a price ticket of ₹11.5 lakh in 2023, 40% greater than ₹8.2 lakh in 2019, and 9.5% greater than ₹10.5 lakh in 2022.
Aside from greater manufacturing prices attributable to costlier inputs and obligatory security tech, the next share of costlier SUVs and buyer desire for high fashions have additionally been driving up common buy costs in 2023.
A complete of 287,904 passenger autos had been dispatched from factories to dealerships in December, Srivastava stated, the best ever for the month, crossing the earlier file of 276,000 items in December 2020. This was additionally a 4.4% progress over final yr’s dispatches of 275,680 items.
At Maruti Suzuki, December dispatches fell 6.5% to 104,778 items from a yr earlier, whereas Tata Motors’ dispatches rose 8.6% to 43,470, and Mahindra & Mahindra’s elevated 23.7% to 35,174 . Some producers together with Toyota and Kia are but to launch their December numbers.
Retail gross sales had been greater than wholesales in December, as producers tried to filter out shares after three festive months ending November, by slashing manufacturing and providing hefty reductions on fashions with excessive inventories.
Citing information on the federal government’s Vahan web site, Jay Kale, senior vice-president at Elara Capital, stated December retail gross sales grew at a slower tempo than the 7% progress seen in FY24 thus far. “We’re seeing some moderation in PV progress. The true state of affairs of pending order books reported by firms is getting examined as capacities ramp up submit chip scarcity at the beginning of the yr. Whereas the SUV section continues to outperform, the restoration within the vehicles section on a low base will probably be keenly watched,” Kale stated.
Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor India stated their shares are close to two-week ranges originally of 2024, right down to half of the degrees seen originally of December.
Trade-wide, PV retail numbers stood at a file 442,800 items in December, Maruti’s Srivastava stated, up 7.8% over final yr, in comparison with 287,904 wholesales in the identical month.
To make certain, official wholesale and retail gross sales numbers will probably be individually launched by the auto trade physique Society of Indian Car Producers (SIAM) and sellers’ physique Federation of Car Sellers Associations of India (FADA) later within the month.
Autos with electrified powertrains, together with electrical autos (EVs) and hybrid autos, noticed a 90% and 358% improve, respectively, albeit on a comparatively low however increasing base. This has benefitted firms together with Tata Motors and MG Motor India, that are leaders within the EV section, in addition to Toyota and Maruti Suzuki, which have launched hybrid fashions in some segments of SUVs.
New SUV fashions have been promoting like scorching muffins; new micro-SUV Exter pushed up Hyundai’s total SUV gross sales to account for 60% of its portfolio, whereas Honda’s new SUV Elevate already accounts for half of its gross sales in India.
Hyundai expects as a lot as 65% of its gross sales to come back from SUVs subsequent yr, and sees SUVs as a section rising to 53-54% of whole PV gross sales. In the meantime, Maruti Suzuki is chasing a 25% share within the section by the tip of FY24, and presently attracts over 23% of its gross sales from SUVs. SUV-focused Mahindra & Mahindra continues to see a robust influx of recent orders, whilst provide chain challenges for some merchandise are nonetheless resulting in lengthy ready intervals.
Automakers additionally reported wholesome rural gross sales in 2023, highlighting an income-divide even inside the rural inhabitants as gross sales of most client items makers recommend a slowdown in rural consumption. For Maruti Suzuki, rural gross sales at 776,000 items in 2023 was its highest ever, Srivastava stated.
“Sturdy minimal help costs, bettering highway infrastructure and good monsoons translated into an excellent progress in rural gross sales,” stated Tarun Garg, chief working officer, Hyundai Motor India. “For Hyundai, rural contribution to our gross sales was at its highest ever at 19.1% in 2023. Going ahead in 2024, we really feel the trade progress could possibly be within the low single digits, perhaps 3-4%, however that can be excellent contemplating that we’re sitting on two years of back-to-back highest-ever progress years”, Garg stated.
In line with Srivastava, three components will contribute to a moderation in progress fee in 2024: “There’s not any pent-up demand or pending bookings that’ll drive gross sales as that has been fulfilled this yr. We’re coming into 2024 with optimum inventory ranges and the pass-through of the excessive repo fee will end in excessive auto mortgage charges, which may probably adversely have an effect on demand,” he stated.
Supply: Live Mint