March Auto Sales: Hero MotoCorp Clocks Highest-Ever Monthly Sales; TVS Motor Rallies After 27% Jump

The country’s largest two-wheeler maker clocked its highest ever monthly sales of 703,473 units in March, a jump of nearly 20 percent from the same period year ago.

The automaker crossed the 75 lakh units sales mark in the financial year 2017-18, becoming the first ever entity to achieve such a feat globally, according to its press release. The company is on track to achieve the stated objective of 1 crore annual unit sales by the year 2020. It had sold 66.6 lakh bikes and scooters in 2016-17.

Expecting market demand to grow significantly in the near future, Hero MotoCorp is also investing in ramping up its production capacity.

Honda Cars India (HCIL) reported a 28.36 percent decline in its domestic sales to 13,574 units in March. The company had sold 18,950 units in the domestic market in March 2017, HCIL said in a statement.

Last month, the company sold 261 units of small car Brio, 2,473 units of premium hatchback Jazz, 716 units of compact sedan Amaze and 4,680 units of mid-sized sedan City.

The company also sold 4,411 units of its compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) WR-V. While SUV BR-V saw sales of 992 units, that of SUV CR-V stood at 41 units.

In addition, it exported a total of 486 units during the month under review.

Source: PTI

The Chennai-based automaker sold a total of 326,659 vehicles in March compared to a sale of 256,341 units same period last year.

• Two-wheeler sales were 25.8 percent higher to 315,765 units (YoY) in March.
• The company exported 59,628 units versus 38,462 units year ago

Shares of the automaker extended gains to 5.3 percent, the most since Feb 23, to Rs 652 apiece.

• March sales at 11,790 units compared to 7079 units in the same period last year
• Domestic sales grow 65 percent to 11,557 units in March against 7014 units in March 2017
• Total sales for the year-ended March 2018 grow 26.1 percent to 80,417 units

Mumbai-based Mahindra & Mahindra posted a 10 percent increase in auto sales for March at 62,077 units. The company had sold 56,202 in March last year. The passenger vehicles segment, which includes utility vehicles, cars and vans clocked sales of 26,555 units compared to 25,523 units in the same month last year, a rise of 4 percent.

Ashok Leyland has posted a 20 percent increase in sales for March at 22,453 units as against 18,701 units in April last year. Light commercial vehicle sales for the company during the month jumped 58 percent to 5396 units as against 3424 units, an year ago. The Chennai-based auto maker’s sales for the year-ended March grew 21 percent to 1.74 lakh units.

Pune-based Bajaj Auto posted a 23 percent increase in total sales to 3.34 lakh units in March. The company had sold 2.72 lakh units in February.

The company sold 40.06 lakh units in the year-ended March 2018 against 36.65 lakh units in the previous year. Commercial vehicle sales for the company during the year stood at a new high at 6.37 lakh units against 4.46 lakh units an year ago, , Bajaj Auto said in a BSE filing.

Bajaj Auto To BloombergQuint

• Columbia Was Weak In Terms Of Export Sales Due To Economic Slow Down
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Royal Enfield, the two-wheeler division of Eicher Motors Ltd., reported a 27 percent jump in total sales to 76,087 units in March. The two-wheeler manufacturer had sold 60,113 units in March 2017.

The company sold 8,20,492 units in financial year 2018-19 as against 6,66,490 units in the previous fiscal, up 23 per cent, Eicher Motors said in a BSE filing.

Exports during the month under review grew by 20 percent to 1,878 units as compared to 1,564 units in March 2017.

Tata Motors Ltd.’s local sales jumped 35 percent in March aided by the commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles segments.

Sales in India rose to 69,440 units as against 51,309 units over last year, Tata Motors said in an exchange filing today. Exports rose 17 percent to 6,643 units in the same period.

Sales of passenger vehicles rose more than 30 percent to 20,266 units led by demand of Tiago and Tigor. Commercial vehicle sales rose 37 percent year-on-year to 49,174 units on account of the “government’s push towards infrastructure development, restriction on overloading, road construction and mining activities along with increasing demand from e-commerce and FMCG applications,” the filing added.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.’s sales rose nearly 15 percent in March led by sales in the mini segment.

The automaker sold a total of 160,598 units last month as compared to 139,763 units sold in the year-ago period, it said in an exchange filing today. Total exports rose 2.1 percent to 12,016 units on a year-on-year basis while domestic sales increased 16.1 percent to 1,48,582 units in the same period.

• The mini segment, which consists of models like Maruti Suzuki Alto and WagonR, saw an increase of 21.1 percent as the company sold about 37,511 units.
• Sales of the compact segment, which consists of models like the Swift, Celerio, Baleno and Dzire, increased 13.5 percent to 68,885 units on a year-on-year basis. The company also sold over 4,321 units of its sedan Ciaz as compared to 4918 units in March 2017, a decline of 12.1 percent.
• Sales of utility vehicles dominated by Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza continued to rise by over 24.3 percent. Maruti Suzuki sold a total of 22,764 units last month. This also includes the sales of Gypsy, Ertiga and S-Cross.

Indian automobile makers are expected to end the financial year 2018 with a bang. That’s according to a BloombergQuint poll of two brokerage houses, which suggest double-digit sales growth in March for all segments, be it commercial vehicles or two-wheelers.

Most interaction with the leading channel partners indicates strong demand momentum across segments in March, Jinesh Gandhi, analyst at Motilal Oswal wrote in a report.

Sales across the country — especially in the north and west region — gained traction in the previous two months aided by festive season demand and improving rural sentiment on rising income and government spending.

The medium and heavy commercial vehicle industry is also likely to sustain strong around 15 percent year-on-year growth, Nomura Analyst Kapil Singh said in a research note. “It could have been much higher if not for capacity constraints."