Not All Automakers Could Take The Highway In May

Carmakers have sold more vehicles in May compared to a year ago, with all the companies reporting a rise in monthly sales.

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki Ltd. saw its domestic sales rise by more than 15 percent last month, while the country's largest utility vehicle manufacturer Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. also sold more vehicles in May. It was Tata Motors Ltd. which saw its sales rise more than 25 percent in the passenger vehicle segment.

Truck and bus manufacturers had no such luck though, with Ashok Leyland Ltd. reporting a drop in monthly sales. M&M which also makes commercial vehicles saw a sharp drop in its medium and heavy commercial segment, while Tata Motors saw its truck and bus sales fall by as much as 40 percent.

It's the tractor manufacturers who saw sales grow in double digits last month. Right from the country's largest tractor manufacturer M&M to Escorts Ltd.

Bajaj Auto Ltd. was the only two-wheeler manufacturer who missed the bus last month, with sales falling 10 percent, year-on-year.

Passenger Vehicles

Almost all the carmakers selling vehicles in India posted a growth in monthly sales last month. Leading the chart was Tata Motors, fuelled by its new launches like the Tigor, Hexa and Tiago.

The country's largest passenger vehicle manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki Ltd. saw sales jump 15 percent year-on-year to 1.3 lakh vehicles due to a robust performance in its entry level hatchback segment consisting of the Alto and the Wagon-R. Sales grew 18 percent to 39,089 units in this segment.

Dragging Maruti’s total sales numbers was a sharp drop in monthly exports which fell more than 30 percent.

Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd.'s (M&M) passenger and utility vehicle sales rose 3.5 percent and sold 39,621 cars in May. However, the company which exports its passenger and utility vehicles to a number of countries in Africa and South America, saw its exports drop 68 percent, year-on-year.

Honda Cars India sold 11,278 cars in India registering a growth of 13 percent.

The country’s second largest carmaker Hyundai India also registered a slight uptick in sales, with a little over 42,000 vehicles being sold last month.

Medium And Heavy Commercial Vehicle Sales

Tata Motors’ -- the country’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer saw its heavy and commercial vehicle sales drop by 40 percent in May. The company blamed a shortage in supply of fuel injection pumps which are compliant with the new emission norms and a general slowdown in commercial vehicle sales, as reasons for the drop.

Its closest rival in the segment, Ashok Leyland Ltd. too reported a 8 percent decline in sales at 9,071 units in the previous month. Its MHCV segment fell 18 percent to 6,139 units. However, light commercial vehicle sales grew 22 percent.

Mahindra and Mahindra which also has a large line up in the commercial vehicle space, saw sales decline by more than 25 percent in May.

Two-Wheelers

Bajaj Auto Ltd. was the only motorcycle maker which saw sales drop in May. India’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp Ltd. sold more than 6 lakh two-wheelers, while its closest competitor Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India saw its sales grow by more than 20 percent last month.

Royal Enfield continued to post healthy growth in sales, selling nearly 61,000 motorcycles. The more powerful engines above 350cc capacity saw a drop in sales.

TVS Motor Company Ltd. reported a sales growth of 16 percent in May, according to a media statement. Motorcycle sales were up 22.3 percent while scooter sales grew by 31 percent.

Tractor Sales

M&M's farm equipment segment sold more than 25,500 tractors in May, 10 percent higher than the same month last year. Exports also grew by 18 percent.

Escorts Ltd.'s agriculture machinery segment sold 6,886 tractor units in May, growing 29 percent from last year. Exports surged 47 percent to 116 units.