Car Sales Soar 21% to 4.60 Lakh Units in Sept on Robust Festive Demand
The industry continued to see tailwinds from lower GST rates, reductions in repo rates that lowered borrowing costs and changes in income-tax slabs, he noted.
Pune: Car dispatches from factory gates to dealers are estimated to have risen around 21 per cent from a year ago to 4.60 lakh units in September, compared with 3.78 lakh units in the same month last year, as per industry estimates.
On strong customer sentiments, car makers ramped up production to meet the peak demand ahead of the key festive periods, including Navratri and Dussehra, resulting in record monthly dispatches.
Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer at Maruti Suzuki India, told reporters that he estimated the industry's September wholesale volume at around 4.60 lakh units, representing growth of around 21 per cent YoY over last year's 3.78 lakh units.
The industry continued to see tailwinds from lower GST rates, reductions in repo rates that lowered borrowing costs and changes in income-tax slabs, he noted.
Banerjee said Maruti has a pending order book of around 2 lakh units, while its network stock stands at approximately 17 days.
He said the industry was expecting robust demand during the peak festive season, which begins with Navratri in October and runs through Diwali in November.
However, Banerjee cautioned that the growth rate could be lower than last year's festive period, when the market benefited from pent-up demand following the rollout of the new GST rates.
Maruti Suzuki sold 1.82 lakh units last month as against 1.33 lakh units in the same month last year, clocking 36.5 per cent growth from last year.
Sales at Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles jumped 15 per cent on year to 70,210 units last month. "PV demand had sustained the momentum seen following GST 2.0, despite Q2 being seasonally softer,” said Shailesh Chandra, MD and CEO, TMPV.
Sales at Mahindra & Mahindra also increased 14 per cent on year to 64,092 units. Velusamy R, president, automotive business, said Mahindra had crossed 1 lakh billing of its electric origin SUVs since launch.
Sales at Hyundai Motor rose 10.9 per cent on year to 57,166 units. Tarun Garg, MD & CEO at Hyundai Motor India, said the company expected sustained customer enthusiasm during the festive season.
Similarly, sales at Kia India rose 41 per cent at 32,017 units, its highest ever monthly sales.
Sales at JSW MG Motor India grew 19 per cent on year to 8,018 units in September.
