Companies like Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Toyota, and Honda released their April 2023 wholesale statistics. While some firms reported a decrease in sales, while others showed overall growth.
Within the overall vehicle sales, the segment of passenger vehicles (PV) that had record sales in FY23 declined in April, with retail sales decreasing by 1 percent year-on year (YoY). This was due in part to the high base last year as well as the OBD 2A norms, which resulted in price increases for vehicles as well as a rise in advanced purchases in March. The first time for 8 years, the passengers vehicle (PV) segment experienced an increase in YoY, possibly suggesting a slowing in demand in this market, according to in a report from the Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Association (FADA).
While supplies are increasing but there is a major inconsistency between the demand of customers and the inventory available. Additionally, PVs with entry-level prices have fewer buyers, which suggests that those in the lower rungs of the ladder are not ready to make the leap from 2-wheelers to four-wheelers. The first time that this has happened in 8 months PV, the segment saw an increase in the YoY, possibly suggesting a slowing of demand for this segment as well, according to the report.
Here’s a look at the meaning of numbers.
Maruti Suzuki
Maruti Suzuki India Limited sold 160,529 vehicles in the month of April. The total sales for the month comprised of domestic sales of 139.519 units, and sales of different OEMs that total 4,039 units as well as exported units of 16971. The domestic sales of passenger vehicles in April of this year increased 12.56 percent to 137,320 units, up from 121,995 units in April 2022.
However, certain models saw slow sales – the combined sales of the Alto as well as the S-Presso with 14,110 units, which is down 18 percent when compared to 17137 models in the month of April. “The shortage of electronic components had some impact on the production of vehicles. The Company took all possible measures to minimize the impact,” the company stated in an announcement.
The seven models comprising the Baleno Celerio, Dzire, Ignis, Swift, Tour S, Wagon R, and Tour S together comprise 74.935 units, which is an increase of 27 percent YoY, compared to 59,184 vehicles in the April of 2022. the SUVs that include those of the Brezza, XL6, Grand Vitara and the Ertiga have clocked 36,754 units. This is an increase of 8 percent YoY.
Tata Motors
Tata Motors Limited sales in the international and domestic markets fell by 4 percent for April 2023 with 69,599 cars in comparison to 72,468 units in April 2022. Total Domestic Sales were the 68,514 mark, compared to 71,467 units for April 20, 2022.
For the domestic market for passenger vehicles, Tata Motors sold 47,007 PVs in April. This is contrasted to 41,587 units in April 2022. That is an increase of 13 percent. In the PV markets in the world, Tata Motors sold 100 vehicles in April 2023, compared to 43 units in the month of April which represents an increase of 133 percent.
Furthermore, Tata Motors has increased the cost of its passenger vehicles starting May 1. The company announced the price increase in an announcement made in April. According to the announcement the weighted average rise was 0.6 percent, based on the type of vehicle and variant.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor
Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has registered sales of 14,162 in the domestic market units in April 2023. In the past, TKM had registered domestic sales of 15,086 units during April 2022. TKM had a week-long maintenance shut-down from April 24 to 28 2023 in order to maintain the condition of equipment and machinery to maintain operational efficiency in productivity, safety and productivity.
TKM has reported a healthy domestic growth rate of 26 percent during the first four months of the calendar 2023. The company sold 61,000 units in the same timeframe in the previous year, when 48,278 units were purchased domestically.
“TKM is continuing to witness high demand as well as good enquiries, and needless to say we are extremely thrilled to see the market responding very positively. This reflects the customer acceptance of our world-class product line-up and advanced clean technology solutions, as we continue to strongly serve our customer base in India. The Toyota Hilux, Innova Hycross and the New Innova Crysta continue their phenomenal run, as a strong demand continues, which indicates customers growing trust in Toyota for their family’s mobility needs. Our SUV segment share also continues to be buoyant owing to the success of the Urban Cruiser Hyryder along with segment leadership of the Fortuner and the Legender, which are consistently leading with over 82 per cnet market share in Q1 of CY 2023. The Vellfire and the Camry Hybrid are also steadily contributing to our sales,” said Atul Sood, vice-president for selling and marketing strategy.
Honda Cars
Honda Cars India registered monthly domestic sales of 5,313 units during April 2023. The export figures were at 2,363 units in April. Honda Cars India had recorded 7,874 units of domestic transactions and shipped out 2,042 units during April 2022. The company saw a drop of 32 percent in domestic sales in April 2023 when compared to April 2022.
In his comments about the sales performance throughout the month, Yuichi Murata, director of sales and marketing, Honda Cars India Ltd said, “Our sales results for the month of April’23 are in line with our plan. We are pleased to start the new financial year with a positive consumer sentiment and healthy market demand.”
The report also stated that the company was considering the possibility of removing 3,000 non-manufacturing employees from its worldwide workforce. In the meantime, Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan Erginbilgic has launched a transformation plan within the company, which includes certain key management changes. In the course of the program the company is planning to combine the non-manufacturing divisions within its civil power, defense and aerospace systems divisions.
“We are working at pace on our transformation across a number of work streams and only one part of one of those work streams is about realizing organizational efficiencies. We have made no decisions whatsoever on any potential impact on employees and any suggestion otherwise is pure speculation,” Bloomberg stated, with reference to a Rolls-Royce spokesperson.
