Robust domestic demand, exports accelerate February auto sales

5 Dariya News

01-Mar-2018

Robust domestic demand along with a pick-up in exports and the waning effects of demonetisation and GST led automobile manufacturers to report healthy sales figures for February.Passenger car major Maruti Suzuki India's overall sales, including exports rose by 15 per cent in February.The company's total sales during the month under review rose to 149,824 units from 130,280 units sold during the corresponding month of 2017.The company's February exports grew by 24.9 per cent, with 11,924 units that were shipped out during last month, up from 9,545 units sold abroad in February 2017. Similarly, Hyundai Motor India too reported a healthy growth in its overall sales.Its cumulative sales for the period under review rose by 5.1 per cent to 55,422 units from 52,734 units.Commenting on the February sales Rakesh Srivastava, Director -- Sales and Marketing, Hyundai Motor India said: "Hyundai grew by 5.1 per cent with a volume of 44,505 units on strong performance of the newly launched modern premium brands New 2018 Elite i20, Next Gen Verna along with super performer Perfect SUV Creta in a growing market on the strength of stable interest rates and fuel prices in a faster growing economy."The carmaker exported 10,917 units in February, as against 10,407 units, shipped out during the corresponding month last year.Another automobile major Tata Motors reported a robust growth of 38 per cent in its domestic sales volume for February."In February 2018, Tata Motors registered a growth of 38 per cent at 58,993 units as against 42,679 units due to the continued strong sales performance of its commercial and passenger vehicles business in the domestic market," the company said in a regulatory filing.

The company's domestic commercial vehicle sales stood at 41,222 units, up 36 per cent from 30,407 units sold in the same period last year.Domestic sales volume of passenger vehicles of Tata Motors stood at 17,771 units in February 2018, up 45 per cent from 12,272 units sold in February 2017. However, "the company's sales from exports in February 2018 was at 4,768 units, a decline of 3 per cent over last year", the statement said.SUV major Mahindra & Mahindra said that its sales volume in February stood at 51,127 vehicles, up 19 per cent, from 42,826 vehicles sold in the year ago period.The domestic sales of the company stood at 48,473 vehicles during February, up by 20 per cent from 40,526 vehicles during the corresponding month last year.Commenting on the performance, Rajan Wadhera, President, Automotive Sector, M&M said: "This performance comes on the back of a sustained momentum and demand, both in the personal and commercial vehicle segments, which we believe will also continue in the month of March." Exports in February 2018 stood at 2,654 units, up 15 per cent from 2,300 units in February 2017, the statement said.In the two and three-wheeler space TVS Motor Company said that it closed last month with a 37 per cent growth in sales volume.The company sold 290,673 units (two wheelers 280,942 units, three wheelers 9,731 units) last month up from 211,470 units (two wheelers 206,247 units, three wheelers 5,223 units) sold in February 2017.

The company's total exports grew by 53.2 per cent from 38,215 units registered in February 2017 to 58,564 units in February 2018.On the two-wheeler front, Hero MotoCorp sold 629,597 units in February 2018, registering a growth of 20 per cent over the corresponding month last year (February 2017), when the company had sold 524,766 units.Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India's February 2018 total sales zoomed by 32 per cent to 519,735 units from 393,642 units in the like period of last period."The positive trend is getting reinforced based on this month's performance as was also reflected in the third quarter GDP numbers," Sridhar V, Partner, Grant Thornton India told IANS. "Concerns of inflationary trends are around but, there are a lot of positive indicators -- the proposed spend on infrastructure development, specifically rural developments and a favourable monsoon in the recent past have increased marketability in the rural markets."According to Abdul Majeed, Partner, Price Waterhouse: "Healthy automobile sales figures for February came on the back of waning effects of GST and demonetisation, as well as the Union Budget 2018-19, which is expected to revive investments in rural India.""There was a pent-up demand situation... The only area of concern are the high crude oil prices."