Tata Motors achieves half a million annual sales milestone in 2022

Tata Motors, India’s largest automobile company by revenue, has crossed the half a million sales milestone in the first fortnight of December. The carmaker may close the calender year with around 5.25 lakh units passenger vehicles sold, making it a 59 percent growth over the 3.31 lakh units it sold in 2021. This milestone makes it the highest ever sales recorded by the brand in a year since its inception in 1998.

• Over two thirds of Tata’s sales come from SUVs
• Tata is now the largest SUV maker in the country

Tata’s SUV portfolio driving growth for company

Thanks to its wide SUV product portfolio, the company is also ahead of Hyundai as the largest SUV maker in the country in 2022. This is even as it narrows the gap for the second position with the South Korean carmaker in the passenger vehicle market – Hyundai's sales is just 30,000 to 40,000 units more annually.

Tata Motors has already sold over 3.25 lakh SUVs in the first 11 months of this calendar year, whereas Hyundai has sold a shade below 3 lakh units. Tata’s wide SUV portfolio – which starts with the Punch at Rs 6 lakh and goes up to the Safari at the higher end of the market – has helped the company address a broader customer base, and help it post growth that's double the market's pace.

Currently, over two thirds of Tata's total sales come from SUVs, even as it offers hatchbacks and sedans with electric and CNG powertrains that offer an incremental increase in volumes in the non-SUV space. Interestingly, the Tata Nexon and Punch are amongst the very few non-Maruti models that have consistently figured in the top 10 cars sold in India this year.

Our sister publication, Autocar Professional has learnt that the company is also on path to break into the top 20 light vehicle producers in the world with an output of 1 million units.

The light vehicle market includes passenger vehicles, small commercial vehicles and vans up to 5 tonnes. The 1 million cumulative light vehicle production output includes Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover, and this has been achieved for the first time since 2018. A reply to an email sent to Tata Motors is still awaited.

Tata and Hyundai tied in a close battle

The new-generation Verna and an entry-level SUV based on the Grand i10 platform will help Hyundai expand its sales volumes in 2023. Tata Motors, on the other hand, will be relying on the facelifts of its existing models, and introduction of EV and CNG powertrains on existing nameplates like the Punch and Altroz to bring in the volumes.

In the last two years, Tata Motors has seen its market share double to 14 percent, while Hyundai has seen its share shedding a couple of hundred basis points to about 14.5-15 percent of the overall market.

So, while Tata Motors has managed to win a critical battle of SUVs, 2023 will throw up an intense neck to neck race between India’s largest automobile company by revenue and the South Korean Chaebol.