SUVs drive up vehicle sales in July

 PUNE: Passenger vehicles sales continue their sales momentum for the seventh straight month this year on the back of robust demand for SUVs and new model launches like Kia Seltos, Hyundai Exter, Honda Elevate and Maruti Invicto.

Also, industry honchos said the easing of the chip shortage has reduced the waiting period which drove up SUV sales last month.

Sales of passenger vehicles at Maruti Suzuki rose 6.5 per cent at 1,52,126 units in July compared to 1,42,850 units sold in the same month last year. Its senior executing officer Shashank Srivastava, in a media briefing, pointed out that the contribution of SUVs in its overall sales was 49.1 per cent in July, from 47.2 per cent in the previous month.

Sales at archrival South Korean brand Hyundai Motor also increased 0.4 per cent to 50,701 units in July 2023 vis-à-vis 50,500 units sold in the same month last year. “Our domestic July sales volume of 50, 000 plus units is backed by a strong SUV portfolio, which has been bolstered by the addition of Hyundai Exter. With the semiconductor supply issues more or less behind us, we are all geared up for the upcoming festive season in India starting with Onam in Kerala,” said Tarun Garg, COO at Hyundai Motor India.

However, sales at Tata Motors were flat last month at 47,689 units as against 47,636 units sold in the year-ago period. The company sold 6,329 units of EVs in July, up by 53 per cent from 4,151 units last year.

Sales at Mahindra and Mahindra surged 29 per cent at 36,205 units last month as against 28,053 units sold last year. “It has been a record-breaking month for us. We are excited to clock the highest-ever SUV domestic sales of 36,205 in July,” said Veejay Nakra, President-Automotive Division at M&M.

He said the XUV700 model grew 1 lakh strong, in a record time of 20 months. Also in July, the Scorpio brand achieved the highest sales in a month since its launch and the robust demand for its key brands continued.

Sales at Toyota Kirloskar Motor rose 10 per cent at 20,759 units last month as against 19,693 units sold last year. “We are confident of recording one of our strongest years in sales this year. We are also keenly looking forward to a good festive season and gearing up to meet the further surge in demand,” said Atul Sood, Vice President, Sales and Strategic Marketing at TKM.

Sales at MG Motor grew 25 per cent at 5,012 units in July, up from 4,013 units it sold last year. The British carmaker said its retail sales were impacted due to severe weather and floods witnessed in major parts of the country recently.

Sales at Honda Cars were down at 4,864 units last month compared with 6,784 units it sold last year. However, Yuichi Murata, Director, Marketing and Sales at Honda Cars India said the brand was witnessing a positive demand trend for its two strong models, the City and Amaze which continued to perform well in their segments. Its all-new new SUV model the Elevate that would go on sale from September will further boost its sales.