December Auto Sales: Maruti Suzuki Sales Decline The Most In Four Months; Bajaj Auto Outpaces Rivals

TVS Motor Company Ltd.'s sales rose 6 percent year-on-year to 2.71 lakh units in December, according to its media statement on the exchanges.

Key sales highlights (YoY)

• Total two-wheeler sales rose 4 percent to 2.58 lakh units.
• Domestic two-wheeler sales rose 1 percent to 2.09 lakh units.
• Scooter sales rose 9 percent to 91,480 units.
• Three-wheeler sales rose 37 percent to 12,686 units.
• Exports rose 26 percent to 60,262 units.

Ford India sold 24,420 vehicles in December, a fall of 18 percent from the year-ago month, according to its media statement.

Key sales highlights (YoY)

• Domestic sales rose 14.8 percent to 5,840 units.
• Exports fell 24.8 percent to 18,580 units.

Hero MotoCorp Ltd.'s sales declined 4 percent on a yearly basis to 4.53 lakh units in December, according to its stock exchange notification.

Shares of Ashok Leyland fell as much as 2.2 percent to Rs 100.20. The truck and bus maker’s monthly sales fell the most in nearly two years in December.

The company’s sales in December declined 20 percent on a yearly basis to 15,493 units, according to its stock exchange notification.

Key sales highlights (YoY)

• Sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicles segment fell 29 percent to 11,295 units.
• Sales of light commercial vehicles rose 27 percent to 4,198 units.

Bajaj Auto Ltd. sold 3.46 lakh units last month, an increase of 18 percent from December 2017, according to its stock exchange filing.

Key sales highlights (YoY)

• Domestic motorcycles sales rose 39 percent to 1.57 lakh units.
• Overall motorcycles sales rose 31 percent to 2.98 lakh units.
• Commercial vehicles sales fell 26 percent to 47,344 units.
• Overall domestic sales rose 21 percent to 1.8 lakh units.
• Overall exports rose 16 percent to 1.65 lakh units.

Honda Cars India Ltd. sold 13,139 units in December compared to 12,642 units in the corresponding month in 2017, the company said in its press release.

The company exported 315 units in December.

Tata Motors Ltd. sold 50,440 units last month, a fall of 8 percent from the year-ago period, according to its stock exchange notification. The fall in sales was due to liquidity crisis in the industry, higher interest rates and rising fuel costs, the company said in a statement.

India’s largest commercial vehicles maker also saw truck sales decline. “ This segment was largely impacted by drop in cargo sales due to low consumer sentiments.”

Key highlights (year-on-year)

• Domestic passenger vehicle sales up 1 percent at 14,260 units.
• Domestic commercial vehicle sales down 11 percent at 36,180 units.
• Medium and heavy commercial truck sales down 27 percent at 11,506 units.
• Exports down 36 percent at 3,999 units.

Hyundai Motor India sold 40,158 units in December, an increase of 4.8 percent from the year-ago period, according to Bloomberg report. The company sold a total of 7.1 lakh units last year.

Eicher Motors Ltd.'s motorcycle segment—Royal Enfield reported a 13 percent slump in sales on a yearly basis to 58,278 units in December, according to its stock exchange filing.

Sales of models with engine capacity up to 350cc fell 15 percent to 53,790 units while the sales of models with engine capacity exceeding 350cc rose 21 percent to 4,488 units. The company exported 2,252 units last month, an increase of 41 percent from December 2017.

Eicher Motors Ltd. sold 6,236 units of commercial vehicles last month, an increase of 2.4 percent from December 2017, according to its stock exchange notification.

SML Isuzu Ltd.’s sales fell 16.1 percent year-on-year to 817 units in December, the busmaker said in a stock exchange notification.

Escorts Ltd. sold 4,598 tractors in December, an increase of 27.5 percent from the corresponding month previous year, the company said in its regulatory filing.

Key sales highlights (YoY)

• Domestic sales rose 21.2 percent to 4,212 units.
• Exports rose 196.9 percent to 386 units.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. sold 39,755 units in December, an increase of 1 percent from the year-ago month, according to its stock exchange notification.

Key sales highlights (YoY)

• Passenger vehicle sales fell 3 percent to 15,091 units.
• Utility vehicles sales fell 4 percent to 13,891 units.
• Commercial vehicles sales fell 4 percent to 16,906 units.
• Medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales fell 31 percent to 824 units.
• Three wheeler sales rose 21 percent to 4,693 units.
• Total domestic sales fell 1 percent to 36,690 units.
• Total exports rose 38 percent to 3,065 units.

Tractor Sales Decline

M&M’s farm equipment sales declined 6 percent on a yearly basis. The company sold 17,404 units in December. The domestic tractor sales fell 2 percent to 16,510 units and exports fell 45 percent to 894 units.

Most automakers declined in today’s trade ahead of their monthly sales data. Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. was the worst performer on the NSE Nifty Auto Index.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.’s sales fell for the second straight month and declined the most since August.

The country’s largest automaker’s sales dropped 1.3 percent on year-on-year basis to 1.28 lakh units last month, according to its exchange filing. It was the lowest monthly sales figure for the carmaker in 2018.

August sales highlights (YoY):

• Sales in mini segment vehicles fell 14 percent to 27,661 units.
• Sales in compact segment fell 3.8 percent to 51,334 units.
• Sales of its new Ciaz model stood at 4,734 units.
• Sales in utility vehicles segment rose 4.9 percent to 20,225 units.
• Sales in vans segment rose 38.8 percent to 15,850 units.
• Overall domestic sales rose 1.8 percent to 1.21 lakh units.
• Overall exports fell 36.4 percent to 6,859 units.

Auto sales are likely to remain muted in December due to a slowdown that began during the festive season even as analysts continue to remain optimistic about a recovery in the new year, according to BloombergQuint’s poll of three brokerages.

A flat growth in the passenger vehicle segment and a sharp double-digit decline could be seen for the medium and heavy trucks, according to the poll. (Here’s why)

Bajaj Auto is likely to be the leader in two-wheeler segment, Ankit Merchant, auto analyst at SMC Institutional Equities told BloombergQuint in an interaction. “We expect Bajaj Auto to report a growth of 13 percent. We expect Hero MotoCorp and TVS Motor to report a growth of about 5 percent and 7-8 percent respectively.”

Commenting on the commercial vehicle sector, Merchant said that he expects Ashok Leyland’s sales to decline by around 20 percent.