Despite chip crunch, auto sales in fast lane

The basic parameters of demand in terms of enquiries, bookings remain robust. However, supply chain issues remain and there is no clear visibility by when things will normalise, said

Shashank Srivastava, Sr ED, Maruti Suzuki

New Delhi: Leading carmakers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors reported robust dispatches to dealers in May on the back of strong demand for passenger vehicles (PVs) across regions, even as the global semiconductor shortage continued to impact production. Mahindra &Mahindra, Kia India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Honda Cars and Skoda also witnessed strong demand for their models last month. The month of May also witnessed Tata Motors race ahead of Hyundai in terms of domestic wholesales.

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said its domestic sales stood at 1,34,222 units in May. The company had dispatched just 35,293 units in May 2021 amid the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic in the country. The period saw massive disruptions which impacted both production and sale of cars. "The basic parameters of demand in terms of enquiries, bookings remain robust. However, supply chain issues remain and there is no clear visibility by when things will normalise," MSI Senior Executive Director (Marketing and Sales) Shashank Srivastava told PTI.

Elaborating on the market scenario, he noted that the passenger vehicle industry, which had shrunk to 1.03 lakh units last May, has rebounded to 2.94 lakh units in May this year. "The April-May numbers are at about 5.88 lakh unit mark for the industry as compared with 3.9 lakh units last year...first quarter should touch 9 lakh units which is a good indication for the industry," Srivastava stated.

Last month, sales of the company's mini cars, comprising Alto and S-Presso, jumped to

17,408 units, compared to 4,760 in May 2021. The company said sales in the compact segment, including models such as Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire, was at 67,947 units in May this year.

In the corresponding period last year it was at 20,343 units. Utility vehicle sales, including Vitara Brezza, S-Cross and Ertiga, was at 28,051 units, while in the year-ago month it was 6,355 vehicles, MSI said. "The sales figures of May 2022 are not comparable with that of May 2021 as the operations of the company in May 2021 were significantly affected due to COVID-19 related disruptions," the automaker stated. Taking the second spot in terms of domestic dispatches last month, Tata Motors reported passenger vehicle wholesales of 43,341 units. This is the company's highest-ever monthly sales since inception -- PV and EV domestic combined -- led by robust dispatch of Nexon, Harrier and Safari.