Festive season puts auto sales in fast lane in October

Chennai: With the festive season on, car makers, leading with Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, closed October with good sales numbers.

However, the shortage of electronic components had put brakes on the overall sales. According to Maruti Suzuki, it had sold a total of 167,520 units (domestic 143,250 units, sales to other car makers 3,822, exports 20,448 units) in October 2022 up from 138,335 units (domestic 112,788 units, sales to other car maker 4,225 units, exports 21,322 units).

Hyundai Motor India Ltd sold 58,006 units (domestic 48,001 units, exports 10,005 units) last month as against 43,556 units (domestic 37,021 units, exports 6,535 units) sold in October 2021.

Utility vehicle major Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd said it had sold 32,298 passenger vehicles last month in the domestic market, up from 20,130 units sold in October 2021.

On the other hand, Tata Motors Ltd said it had sold 45,423 passenger vehicles last month (34,155 units sold in October 2021).

Interestingly for Nissan Motor India, exports outnumbered its domestic sales last month. The company had sold a total of 10,011 units out of which exports were 6,950 units and domestic sales were 3,061 units.

Other car makers like Toyota Kirloskar Motor said it had sold 13,143 units last month (12,440 units), Honda Cars India Ltd last month sold 11,221 units (9,855 units) and MG Motor India, 4,367 units.

"Our sales volume continued to grow in October on the back of strong festive demand," M&M President, Automotive Division Veejay Nakra said.

"Festive season kept the spirits high and led to very strong momentum in demand for tractors and farm machinery," M&M President - Farm Equipment Sector, Hemant Sikka said. On the outlook, Sikka said the recent government announcement of higher MSP for key Rabi crops, good moisture content in the soil, high reservoir levels and good progress in sowing for Rabi crops are all positives for continued good demand for tractors in coming months.