Pune: Passenger vehicle wholesales, the barometer of the economy in India, left a record mark in September as car manufacturers dispatched stocks to dealers to cater to the robust and sustained demand in the ongoing festive season, which accounts for nearly 20-25 per cent of the annual sales.
The automakers dispatched 3,63,733 units last month, the best ever in any month. The previous best was in August 2023 with dispatches of 3,60,700 units.
“This is the highest ever September sales in any year in the Indian passenger vehicle history,” Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing and Sales at Maruti Suzuki India told reporters in a virtual media briefing.
It is also the highest ever in any month till date, he pointed out.
Srivastava noted that dispatches rose in September as the dealers prepared for the festive season which kicks in a big way from October 14.
He said last month also witnessed robust demand in western and southern states due to various festivals which saw an increase in car sales.
Significantly, Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Toyota reported their best ever monthly wholesales last month as they ramped up supplies to dealers to meet the robust demand due to the ongoing festive season.
SUV sales at Mahindra & Mahindra jumped to the highest level at 20 per cent at 41,267 units last month as against 34,262 units sold in the same month last year.
According to Srivastava the wholesales were also the best ever for the passenger vehicle industry in the April-September quarter.
“It is the first time that in nine months till September, the industry passenger vehicles sales have crossed the 30-lakh unit mark, which means that we are on course to reach 40-lakh unit mark both for the financial year as well as the calendar year,” he noted.
Srivastava also said it is for the first time ever that the industry has breached the 20-lakh unit sales mark in the April-September period.
Sales at Maruti, India’s biggest car maker, increased 2.5 per cent year-on-year at 1,58,832 units. It is for the first time that the company surpassed the half-yearly sales mark of 1 million units.
Sales at archrival Hyundai Motor jumped 9.13 per cent year-on-year to 54,214 units last month. “While the industry grew by 2 per cent last month, our domestic dispatches were up 9 per cent. The share of SUV sales in our overall volumes continues to grow,” said Tarun Garg, COO at Hyundai Motor India.
However, sales at Tata Motors fell by 5 per cent at 47,864 units as against 45,317 units sold last year.
Sales at Toyota Kirloskar Motor also soared 53 per cent year-on-year to 23,590 units in September, its highest-ever in a month.
“We are witnessing sustained demand across our product line-up which is leading to the company’s record-breaking performance,” said Atul Sood, Vice President of Sales, and Strategic Marketing at Toyota Kirloskar Motor.
While sales at Honda Cars also jumped 13 per cent year-on-year at 9,861 units, MG Motor, the British brand, reported a 31 per cent year-on-year retail sales growth at 5,003 units last month.
