August Auto Sales: Bajaj Auto Declines 11%; Ashok Leyland Drops 47%

TVS Motor’s August sales declined over 15 percent to 2.9 lakh units, according to its exchange notification.

The shares snapped its three-day fall and rose 1.5 percent intraday to Rs 358.10 each after the sales update.

Key Highlights (YoY)

• Two-wheeler sales fell 16.4 percent to 2.75 lakh units. Motorcycle sales fell nearly 17 percent to 1.09 lakh units.
• Exports rose 6 percent to 69,702 units.
• Three-wheeler sales rose 11 percent to 14,604 units.

Ashok Leyland Ltd.’s domestic sales fell 50 percent to 8,296 units in August, according to its stock exchange filing.

Key Sales Highlights (YoY)

* Domestic medium and heavy commercial bus sales fell 3 percent to 1,249 units.
* Total domestic medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales declined 63 percent to 4,585 units.
* Domestic light commercial vehicle sales fell 12 percent to 3,711 units.

Sales Including Exports (YoY)

* Total medium and heavy commercial truck sales fell 70 percent to 3,550 units.
* Total medium and heavy commercial bus sales rose 25 percent to 1,799 units.
* Total medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales fell 59 percent to 5,349 units.
* Total light commercial vehicle sales fell 8 percent to 3,882 units.
* Total sales fell 47 percent to 9,231 units.

Shares of the truck and bus maker traded 2.7 percent lower at Rs 62.70 after the announcement. The stock had declined 4.1 percent intraday.

Bajaj Auto Ltd. sold 3.9 lakh units in August, a fall of 11 percent from the year ago month, the Pune-based automaker said in a stock exchange filing.

• Domestic motorcycles sales fell 21 percent to 1.73 lakh units.
• Motorcycles exports fell 5 percent to 1.25 lakh units.
• Total motorcycle sales fell 10 percent 3.25 lakh units.
• Domestic commercial vehicles sales declined 6 percent to 35,085 units.
• Commercial vehicles’ exports fell 20 percent to 29,641 units.
• Total commercial vehicle sales fell 13 percent to 64,726 units.
• Total domestic sales fell 19 percent to 2.08 lakh units.
• Total exports were flat at 1.81 lakh units.

Shares of Bajaj Auto fluctuated between gains and losses to trade flat at Rs 2,787 after the announcement.

Escorts Ltd. sold 4,035 tractors in August, a decline of 16.1 percent from the same month last year, according to its exchange filing.

Key Highlights (YoY):

• Domestic sales fell 19.5 percent to 3,763 units.
• Export sales nearly doubled to 272 units.

Royal Enfield-maker Eicher Motors Ltd. saw monthly sales in July decline 24 percent to 52,904 units.

• Sales of models with engine capacity up to 350cc fell 32 percent to 44,694 units.
• Sales of models with engine capacity over 350cc more than doubled to 8,210 units.
• Exports shot up 205 percent to 4,152 units.

Hero MotoCorp sells 5,43,406 units of motorcycles in August, a drop of nearly 21 percent in the year ago month.

Last month, the company shut its manufacturing plants are shut for four days as part of an annual exercise and also to adjust production in line with the current market demand.

Honda Cars India Pvt. Ltd. sold 8,291 units in August, a 51.28 percent decline from 17,020 units in the same month last year. The company also exported 227 units last month.

"The sector continues to witness high de-growth due to poor consumer sentiment," Rajesh Goel, Honda Cars India’s senior vice president and director (sales and marketing), said in a statement. This is despite the high discounts prevailing in the market which makes it the best time to buy cars, he added.

"We hope the recent measures taken by the government will help in improving consumer sentiment and demand creation as we move forward. With the impending festive season, the sales are likely to pick-up in coming months," Goel said.

Toyota Motor Co.’s Indian arm reported a 21 percent decline in total sales at 11,544 units in August. The company had sold 14,581 units in the same month last year.

Sales in the domestic market stood at 10,701 units as compared to 14,100 units in August 2018, down 24 percent. Exports during the month increased two-fold to 843 units as against 481 in the year-ago period, said Toyota Kirloskar Motor India Pvt. Ltd.

"The consumer sentiment continues to be muted in the month of August, with customers deferring their purchase of vehicles,” said Toyota Kirloskar’s Deputy Managing Director N Raja. Severe floods across states has also hurt demand in the industry. Unfavorable exchange rate is not helping our cost."

Raja, however, said the measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to boost the auto sector are likely to spur some demand which is a much needed relief.

"The latest FDI reforms, which will boost local manufacturing, also comes as a positive move to propel growth in the industry in the long run. We hope that the festive cheer ushers in positive sentiments with better retail sales in the upcoming months," he said.

Sales of VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd., a joint venture of Volvo Group and Eicher Motors Ltd., fell 41.7 per cent to 3,538 units in August. The company had sold 6,069 units in August last year, it said in a statement.

Eicher-branded trucks and buses recorded sales of 3,462 units in August as compared to 5,948 units in the same month last year, a decline of 41.8 per cent, it added. Volvo Trucks recorded sales of 76 units in last month as against 121 units in August 2018, down 37.2 percent.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd.'s car sales in August stood at 56,005 units, a 9.54 percent fall from 61,912 units sold in the same month last year, the Indian arm of the South Korean automaker said in a statement Sunday.

Domestic sales were down 16.58 percent to 38,205 units as against 45,801 units in August 2018. Exports, however, grew 10.48 percent to 17,800 units last month as compared to 16,111 units in the year-ago period.

In August, the company continued to be market leader in utility vehicle segment while maintaining its market share in the overall passenger vehicles segment of around 19 percent, said Hyundai India’s National Sales Head Vikas Jain.

"We expect the coming festive season will be a turnaround period in the market with positive customer sentiments," Jain said.

Tata Motors Ltd. on Sunday reported a 58 percent decline in its domestic passenger vehicle sales at 7,316 units in August. The company had sold 17,351 units in the same month last year, it said in a statement.

Sales in the commercial vehicles segment were down 45 percent at 21,824 units last month as against 39,859 units in Aug. 2018.

The market continued to be challenging, Tata Motors President (Passenger Vehicles) Mayank Pareek said, but the company has focused on improving its retail sales, which saw an uptick of 42 percent.

"We are hopeful that the recently announced financial package by the finance minister will help in improving the liquidity of the market and reducing the ownership cost. This will certainly help the industry to revive and drive growth," Pareek said.

According to Girish Wagh, president (commercial vehicles) at Tata Motors, subdued demand sentiment due to poor freight availability, lower freight rates and general slowdown in economy continued to hamper demand of commercial vehicles.

"System stock reduction through retail focus and aligning production will continue to be our approach, while cautiously monitoring the market in these challenging times," he said, adding that retail sales are estimated to be ahead of wholesale by over 25 percent in August. "We are looking forward to a positive impact of the recently announced stimulus package by the government.”

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. reported a 25 percent fall in total sales to 36,085 units in August. Here’s look at the key numbers:

• Domestic sales were down 26 percent at 33,564 units.
• Exports declined 15 percent to 2,521 units.
• Passenger vehicle sales fell 32 percent to 19,758 units.
• Commercial vehicle sales declined 28 percent to 20,326 uniits.

"The auto industry continues to be subdued in the month of August due to several external factors. We are optimistic and hopeful of a good festive season going ahead,” said Veejay Ram Nakra, Chief of Sales & Marketing (Automotive Division), at Mahindra & Mahindra.

Mahindra Tractors saw a 17 percent decline in total tractor sales in August at 14,817 units. Domestic tractor sales were at 13,871 units, down 15 percent. Exports fell 33 percent to to 1,410 units.

"The improved monsoon spread and sowing pattern for the kharif crop is likely to help boost rural sentiment going into the festive season,” Rajesh Jejurikar, President-Farm Equipment, at Mahindra & Mahindra. “The recently announced fiscal measures by the government may also provide the necessary stimulus for tractor demand uptick."

MG Motor India on Sunday said its retail sales stood at 2,018 units in August. The automaker had reported retail sales of 1,508 units in July 2019.

“We remain strongly focused on fulfilling the 28,000 bookings, as part of our commitment to ensure customer satisfaction,” MG Motor India Chief Commercial Officer Gaurav Gupta said in a statement.

The company plans to increase production of the model to 3,000 units this month from 2,000 per month at present at its Halol manufacturing facility. With increased production, MG Motor will take a decision on re-opening bookings of the Hector later this year.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.’s car sales stood at 1,06,413 units in August, a 32.70 percent decline from the year-ago period, India’s largest carmaker said in a statement on Sunday.

• Domestic sales declined 34.3 percent at 97,061 units.
• Exports in August were down 10.8 percent at 9,352 units
• Sales of small cars, comprising Alto and WagonR, stood at 10,123 units as compared to 35,895 units a year earlier, a 71.8 percent decline.
• Sales of compact cars, including models such as Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire, fell 23.9 percent.
• Sales of utility vehicles, including Vitara Brezza, S-Cross and Ertiga, rose 3.1 percent to 18,522 units.

Sales of cars and two-wheelers showed no signs of revival in August as heavy rains and liquidity constraint kept buyers away ahead of the festival season, according to a BloombergQuint survey of 10 large dealerships across India.

“Dealers have been offering cash discounts and exchange bonuses but customers are just not looking to buy at the moment,” said Vinkesh Gulati, director of United Automobiles—a dealer of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd—told BloombergQuint. “While enquiries and walk-ins have seen a substantial jump compared to last month, the conversion into actual sales is still not happening.”