January Auto Sales: Bajaj Auto Sales Rise 15%; Hero MotoCorp Down 9%

Shares of Bajaj Auto parred losses and extended gains for the third day. The stock rose as much as 1.3 percent to Rs 2,635.

The two-and-three-wheeler maker sold 4.07 lakh units last month, an increase of 15 percent from January 2018, according to its stock exchange filing.

Key Sales Highlights (YoY)

• Domestic motorcycle sales rose 25 percent to 2.03 lakh units.
• Motorcycle exports rose 17 percent to 1.47 lakh units.
• Overall motorcycle sales rose 21 percent to 3.5 lakh units.
• Overall commercial vehicle sales fell 12 percent to 56,690 units.
• Overall domestic sales rose 14 percent to 2.31 lakh units.
• Overall exports rose 16 percent to 1.75 lakh units.

Hero MotoCorp Ltd.’s January sales dropped 9 percent year-on-year to 5.82 lakh units.

“The weak market sentiment from the previous quarter spilled over to January and continued to dampen sales,” the two-wheeler maker said in its exchange filing. The company also blamed other factors such as the credit crunch and higher two-wheeler insurance costs for the drop in sales.

Hero MotoCorp, however, expects sales to improve in the January to March quarter.

Tata Motors Ltd.’s domestic sales in January dropped 8 percent to 54,915 units on a yearly basis as against 59,441 units sold over last year.

While the company’s commercial vehicle sales for the domestic market dipped 6 percent to 37,089 units, the medium and heavy commercial vehicle segment witnessed a decline of 9 percent to 11,694 units in January, year-on-year.

"Subdued market sentiments, high interest rates, lag effect of implementation of revised axle load norms, slowing industrial output and declining industrial production growth were the primary factors behind the lull," the company said in its filing.

The company's passenger vehicle sales for the domestic market slumped 11 percent to 17,826 units last month. It attributed the dip to low customer sentiments caused by “non-availability of retail finance and liquidity crunch”.

The company said sales from exports in January was at 3,270 units, plunging 37 percent over last the year owing to current liquidity crisis in Nepal, formation of new government in Bangladesh and political uncertainty in Sri Lanka.

The maker of Royal Enfield motorcycles reported a 7 percent dip in sales on a yearly basis to 72,701 units in January. Sales of models with engine capacity up to 350cc fell 7 percent to 67,915 units while the sales of models with engine capacity exceeding 350cc fell 4 percent to 4,786 units. The company exported 1,829 units last month.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.'s sales rose 7 percent to 55,722 units in January on higher demand for its commercial vehicles.

The company sold 22,625 units of commercial vehicles in the month gone by, an increase of 8 percent from the year-ago period. Sales of passenger cars also improved by 1 percent to 23,872 units.

Sales under the medium and heavy commercial vehicles segment, however, shrunk by 19 percent to only 849 units, versus 1,049 units.

The biggest improvement was seen in the three-wheeler segment, where M&M sold 6,003 units, a 27 percent jump on a yearly basis.

Exports also spiked 22 percent in January to 3,222 units, from 2,631 units in the year-ago period.

Ashok Leyland Ltd.’s domestic sales in January recovered from its last month dip. Sales were up 12 percent in January at 18,533 units on a yearly basis. Total sales, which includes export, were up 9 percent to 19,741 units.

Key Sales Highlights (YoY):

Sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicles segment rose 13 percent to 13,663 units.

Sales of light commercial vehicles rose 12 percent to 4,870 units.

Escorts Ltd. sold 5,991 tractors in January, an increase of 12.7 percent from the year-ago period, according to its stock exchange filing.

Key Sales Highlights:

Domestic sales rose 11.7 percent year-on-year to 5,762 units.

Exports rose 46.8 percent to 229 units.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. reported muted sales growth in January, hurt by weak demand for its passenger cars and lower exports.

India’s largest passenger car maker sold 1.52 lakh units, as compared with 1.51 lakh in the year-ago period. "This includes 1.42 lakh units in the domestic market and 9,571 units of exports," the company said in a notification to the exchanges.

Passenger car sales, however, declined 4.1 percent to 1.02 lakh units, hurt by tepid demand for its compact and mid-sized cars such as Swift, Dzire, Baleno and Ciaz. That compares with 1.06 lakh units sold in the same month last year.

Sales in utility vehicles and vans grew considerably by 8.4 percent and 23.6 percent to 22,430 units and 15,145 units, respectively.

While the domestic sales improved marginally to 1.42 lakh units on a yearly basis, the exports declined by 11 percent to 9,571 units.

Auto sales are expected to remain tepid in January due to muted demand and weak consumer sentiment, according to BloombergQuint poll of three brokerages.

Sales of two-wheelers and commercial vehicles are likely to hit a speed bump, the poll showed, indicating higher inventory levels at dealerships have led to slower wholesales volumes, adding to the woes of auto companies.

While there has been a notable decline in inventories especially in passenger vehicles, the two-wheeler segment inventory remains high, said Deep Shah, research analyst at Motilal Oswal said.

Nomura expects passenger vehicle sales in January to decline by 5 percent on a year-on-year basis. The Japanese brokerage firm expects a 4 percent decline in two-wheeler sales and a 7 percent drop in medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales for the same period.

New launches like Wagon R, Tata Harrier and Nissan Kicks in January can benefit wholesales, said Nomura’s auto analyst Kapil Singh, adding that a weaker demand in the medium and heavy commercial vehicle segment should lead to volume decline sustaining.

The tractor demand, according to a Motilal Oswal note on Jan. 29, has been weakening in key agriculture states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.