Passenger vehicle sales upbeat in April

The Indian passenger vehicle industry has begun the new fiscal on a robust note, having ended FY2017 with a year-on-year growth of 9.23 percent and registering 3 million sales in a year for the first time. From the sales numbers for April 2017, it’s clear that new models, refreshed variants and an uptick in consumer sentiment are driving increased footfalls to automobile showrooms and resulting in higher sales.

Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s largest carmaker, has taken up from where it left off in FY2016-17 when it crossed the 1.5 million sales landmark for the first time ever. In April 2017, the company reported total domestic sales of 1,44,081 units, up 23 percent (April 2016: 117,045). Growth has returned to its entry-level, bread-and-butter duo of the Alto and the WagonR, which have sold 38,897 units combined, up 21.9 percent (April 2016: 31,906). Sales of the six compact cars comprising the Swift, Ritz, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire have posted a robust 39 percent growth at 63,584 units (April 2016: 45,700).

Maruti will officially launch the new, third-generation Dzire on May 18, which is likely to accelerate slowing sales of the compact sedan. The Ciaz, which is now sold only from the premium Nexa channel, has gone home to 7,024 buyers, up 23 percent (April 2016: 5,702).

The company continues to post high sales in the utility vehicle segment, thanks to surging sales of the Vitara Brezza. Its total utility vehicle sales (Gypsy, Ertiga, S-cross, Vitara Brezza) have gone up 28.6 percent year-on-year to 20,638 units (April 2016: 16,044).

Hyundai Motor India, the country’s second largest car manufacturer, sold 44,758 units in April, a year-on-year growth of 5.7 percent (April 2016: 42,351). Commenting on the April 2017 numbers, Rakesh Srivastava, company director (sales and marketing), said, “Hyundai continued its growth momentum on a strong base of last year driven by a tremendous response for the new Xcent and strong performance of the Grand i10, Elite i20 and Creta.”

Robust demand in the Indian market for SUVs is giving new momentum to automakers. Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported strong growth of 52 percent in April 2017 – a total of 12,948 units (April 2016: 8,529). The company attributed this growth to mainly the demand for the new Fortuner. In less than six months of its launch, the rugged SUV has sold more than 12,200 units.

Mahindra & Mahindra sold a total of 19,325 vehicles in April 2017, down 15 percent (April 2016: 22,655). Meanwhile, Honda Cars India reported domestic sales of 14,480 units in April 2017, up 38.1 percent (April 2016: 10,486). The Japanese carmaker said it had received a good market response for the recently launched WR-V crossover and new City sedan. While the City has received over 25,000 bookings since its launch in mid-February, the WR-V has seen 12,000 bookings since its launch in mid-March.  

Tata Motors continues to see a resurgence in demand for its passenger vehicles. The company sold a total of 12,827 units in April 2017, a growth of 23 percent (April 2016: 12,230) which it said was due to an encouraging response for its recently launched Hexa and the Tigor. Meanwhile, the Tiago hatchback continues to see a good sales uptick.

Ford India continued its growth momentum in April with domestic wholesales of 7,618 vehicles, up 16.64 percent (April 2016: 6,531). In a bid to accelerate sales, the carmaker recently introduced sports editions of its Figo hatchback and Aspire compact sedan.