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Auto Sales In July 2020: Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp Lead Crawl Back To Normalcy

Here’s a look at which automaker sold how much in the month gone by.

A worker attaches a side fairing panel to a motorcycle on the assembly line of Hero MotorCorp’s manufacturing facility in Gurugram, India, on June 11, 2014. (Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg)
A worker attaches a side fairing panel to a motorcycle on the assembly line of Hero MotorCorp’s manufacturing facility in Gurugram, India, on June 11, 2014. (Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg)
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The big boys of India's auto industry are leading a post-pandemic resurgence in sales for the sector, amid an easing coronavirus lockdown.

Sales of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. and Hero MotoCorp Ltd. in July 2020 returned to levels seen a year ago. The Swift maker sold 1,08,064 units—a sequential growth of 88.2% and annual decline of 1.1%. At 5,14,509 two-wheelers, the Splendor maker sold 14% more over the previous month and 5% less from a year ago.

Performance of their ilk met analyst expectations—declining anywhere between 3% and 71% year-on-year but surging on a monthly basis.

Tractors, as expected, were the outlier. Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. sold more tractors than sports utility vehicles for a third straight month, but the company's auto division—comprising passenger and commercial vehicles—made up lost ground.

Here's a look at the auto sales in July 2020, as reported by the companies, in sequential as well as year-on-year terms.

Bajaj Auto Sales Fell 8% Month-On-Month To 2.56 Lakh Units

Bajaj Auto’s Pulsar motorcycles sit ready at the end of the assembly line at the company’s factory in Pune, India. (Photographer: Kuni Takahashi/Bloomberg)
Bajaj Auto’s Pulsar motorcycles sit ready at the end of the assembly line at the company’s factory in Pune, India. (Photographer: Kuni Takahashi/Bloomberg)

Sales of Bajaj Auto Ltd. fell 8% sequentially and 33% from a year ago to 2,55,832 units in July 2020, according to a regulatory filing on Monday. The Chakan, Pune-based automaker had sold 2,78,097 units in June 2020 and 3,81,530 units in July 2019.

  • Domestic sales fell 23% year-on-year to 1,58,976 units.
  • Total motorcycle sales fell 26% year-on-year to 3,22,210 units.
  • Total commercial vehicle sales fell 71% year-on-year to 17,276 units.
  • Exports declined 45% from the year ago to 96,856 units in July 2020.

The July sales data comes days after the Rajiv Bajaj-led company reported its results for the first quarter of 2020-21.

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TVS Motor Sales Rose 27.5% Sequentially In July 2020

TVS Motor employees work on the vehicle production line at company’s factory in Karawang, Indonesia. (Photographer: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg)
TVS Motor employees work on the vehicle production line at company’s factory in Karawang, Indonesia. (Photographer: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg)

TVS Motor Co. Ltd. sold 2,52,744 units in July 2020—indicating a sequential growth of 27.46% and decline of 9.56% from the year-ago period. The Chennai-based automaker had sold 1,98,387 units in June 2020 and 2,79,465 units in July 2019.

  • Total two-wheeler sales fell 8% year-on-year to 2,43,788 units.
  • Total exports fell 10.86% year-on-year to 62,389 units.
  • Domestic two-wheeler sales fell 9% year-on-year to 1,89,647 units.
  • Two-wheeler exports fell 5.33% year-on-year to 54,141 units.
  • Three-wheeler sales fell 35.03% year-on-year to 8,956 units.

The company sold a total of 1,06,062 motorcycles and 78,603 scooters last month.


Ashok Leyland Sales Fell 56% Year-on-Year To 4,775 Units

Total sales of Ashok Leyland Ltd. fell 56% year-on-year to 4,775 units in July 2020 from 10,926 units a year ago, according to an exchange filing on Saturday.

  • Truck sales fell 70% year-on-year to 1,461 units.
  • Bus sales fell 87% year-on-year to 244 units.
  • Light CV sales fell 27% year-on-year to 3,070 units.

The company exported 493 commercial vehicles in the previous month.

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Royal Enfield Sales Rose 6% Month-On-Month In July 2020

Royal Enfield sold 40,334 motorycles in July 2020—indicating a sequential growth of 5.96% and a decline of 25.56% from the year-ago period. The two-wheeler arm of Eicher Motors Ltd. had sold 38,065 units in June 2020 and 54,185 units in July 2019.

  • Sales of upto 350cc motorcycles fell 19% year-on-year to 36,384 units.
  • Sales of 350cc+ motorcycles fell 57% year-on-year to 3,950 units.
  • Exports fell 52% year-on-year to 2,409 units.

Still, Royal Enfield claimed that its Interceptor 650 was the highest-selling motorcycle in the U.K. over the past 12 months, with the Himalayan coming in at fourth.

Eicher Motors expects increased demand for two-wheelers in the aftermath of the pandemic, as people are likely to shun public transport due to fear of infection.

Royal Enfield is witnessing a strong initial customer interest with the gradual easing of the lockdown, Eicher Motors' Managing Director Siddhartha Lal said in the company's annual report for 2019-20. "We estimate increased demand for personal transport and two-wheelers as people would be wary of using public transport. This we believe will augur well for us and for the industry as a whole," Lal said.

Also Read: Royal Enfield Has No Plans To Hold Back Long-Term Investments

Royal Enfield, he said, continues to make concrete inroads to expand its retail network, while further strengthening its supply chain and vendor ecosystem.


Suzuki Motorcycle Sales Rose 37% Month-On-Month In July 2020

Sales of Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt. Ltd. rose 37% sequentially to 31,421 units in July 2020. Exports stood at 2,991 units in the month gone by.

“With the unlock phase, the automobile industry is now marching towards normalcy in terms of production, distribution and sales while continuing to adhere to all the precautionary measures,” Koichiro Hirao, managing director at Suzuki Motorcycle India, said in a statement on Saturday. “From August 2020, we will try our best to achieve Pre-Covid-19 production and sales volume.”

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