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India’s domestic passenger vehicle sales witnessed a significant 21 per cent surge in September, reaching an an estimated 4.60 lakh units, as major carmakers like Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, and Hyundai ramped up supplies to meet the anticipated demand during the upcoming peak festival season.
Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters
Key Points
- Domestic passenger vehicle dispatches in September are estimated to have increased by around 21 per cent year-on-year, reaching approximately 4.60 lakh units.
- Major carmakers, including Maruti Suzuki (37% growth), Tata Motors (15% growth), M&M (14% growth), and Hyundai (10.9% growth), all reported double-digit increases in wholesales.
- The surge in dispatches is attributed to carmakers ramping up supplies to dealerships in anticipation of the peak festival season, which begins in October.
- Industry tailwinds such as lower GST rates, reduced repo rates, and changes in income tax slabs are contributing to sustained customer enthusiasm.
- Despite robust demand expectations for the festive season, the growth rate might be lower compared to the previous year due to pent-up demand in the year-ago period after new GST rates.
Passenger vehicle dispatches in the domestic market are estimated to have grown around 21 per cent to 4.60 lakh units in September, with all major carmakers posting double-digit growth.
The volume growth comes as carmakers ramped up supplies to dealerships ahead of the start of peak festival season in October, while demand remained healthy.
The growth also comes on a low base in last September, when sales were hit for almost 22 days ahead of GST 2.0 rollout.
Industry Performance and Key Players
The industry is estimated to have dispatched close to 4.60 lakh units during this September.
“For the month of September, the industry (wholesale volume) would be around 4.60 lakh units,” Maruti Suzuki India Senior Executive Officer Partho Banerjee told reporters on Thursday.
“This should be growth of around 20-21 per cent [YoY]…Last year’s number was around 3.78 lakh units.”
India’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki saw its domestic passenger vehicle dispatches jump 37 per cent to 1,81,838 units last month.
Tata Motors PV emerged as the second largest player with dispatches of 68,810 units, up 15 per cent. M&M recorded 14 per cent growth in wholesales with 64,092 units, while Hyundai’s domestic wholesales grew 10.9 per cent to 57,166 units.
Factors Driving Growth and Future Outlook
According to Banerjee, the industry continues to see tailwinds from lower GST rates, a reduction in repo rates, which lowered borrowing costs, as well as the change in income tax slabs.
The automaker has a pending order book for 2 lakh units and network stock of 17 days.
The industry is anticipating robust demand during the peak festival season, which starts with Navratri in the second week of October this year and runs till Diwali in the second week of November.
However, the growth rate could be lower in this festival season as the industry saw a pent-up demand in the year-ago festival period after new GST rates were rolled out on September 22 last year.
“Going ahead, we are expecting sustained customer enthusiasm during the festive season,” Tarun Garg, MD and CEO of Hyundai Motor India, said.
