July Auto Sales: Tata Motors Sales Slump 32%; Hero MotoCorp Falls Over 21%

Tata Motors Ltd. sold 32,938 units domestically, a 34 percent drop as subdued demand continued in July.

Commercial vehicle sales in July declined 36 percent over last year, it said in its stock exchange filing. "The market continues to exhibit subdued demand sentiment as customers are postponing purchases given the poor freight availability, the falling freight rates impacting their viability.”

• Domestic medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales declined 46 percent while light commercial vehicle sales fell 21 percent.
• Domestic cargo and pickup sales fell 30 percent.
• Domestic passenger vehicles declined 31 percent.
• Exports too fell 32 percent.

Hero MotoCorp said in its exchange filing that it sold 5,35,810 units of two-wheeler in July, which is 21.2 percent lower than last year’s 6,79,862 units. The company said that the sluggish market environment has spilled over into the second quarter and has impacted dispatch volumes.

The company said that the outlook for the rest of the year will be dependent on multiple factors, including the progress of monsoon and festive season off-take, as well as improvement in the liquidity situation.

Royal Enfield-maker Eicher Motors Ltd. saw monthly sales in July decline 22 percent to 54,185 units.

• Sales of models with engine capacity up to 350cc fell 29 percent to 45,041 units.
• Sales of models with engine capacity over 350cc rose 71 percent to 9144 units.
• Exports shot up 143 percent to 5,003 units.

The shares of Eicher Motors closed 2.5 percent higher at 16,760 each.

Automakers may witness some recovery in the second half of the financial year ending 2020 led by higher passenger vehicle sales and rural demand.

"The sales numbers are more dismal than expected and this is the story across companies and sectors,” said Ashwin Patil, senior analyst at LKP Securities. “Howver,There will be a slight recover in second half of the year leading from passenger car vehicles due to inventory correction and not on account of any macro-level change.”

Patil also said rain deficit in the last two months had impacted tractor sales in July.

TVS Motor’s July sales declined 13 percent to 279,465 units, according to its exchange notification.

The shares dropped as much as 3.8 percent to Rs 354 each after the sales update.

Key Highlights (YoY)

• Two-wheeler sales fell 13.8 percent to 2.66 lakh units. Motorcycle sales fell 11.6 percent to 105,199 units.
• Exports fell 3.6 percent to 69,994 units.
• Three-wheeler sales rose 3 percent to 13,323 units.

Ashok Leyland’s sales fell 28 percent on a yearly basis to 10,927 units in July, according to its stock exchange filing.

Key Sales Highlights (YoY)

• Domestic medium and heavy commercial truck sales fell 47 percent to 4,668 units.
• Domestic medium and heavy commercial bus sales fell 5 percent to 1,350 units.
• Total domestic medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales fell 41 percent to 6,018 units.
• Domestic light commercial vehicle sales rose 1 percent to 4,083 units.
• Total domestic vehicle sales fell 29 percent to 10,101 units.

Sales Including Exports (YoY)

• Total medium and heavy commercial truck sales fell 48 percent to 4,858 units.
• Total medium and heavy commercial bus sales rose 14 percent to 1,864 units.
• Total medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales fell 39 percent to 6,722 units.
• Total light commercial vehicle sales flat at 4,205 units.

Shares of the Chennai-based company fell as much as 3.9 percent to Rs 67.15 after the announcement.

Number of vehicles sold by Eicher’s commercial vehicle arm in July declined 32.1 percent year-on-year to 4,048 units.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.’s auto sales declined 15 percent to 40,142 units on a yearly basis last month while its tractor sales fell 12 percent to 19,992 units, according to its stock exchange filing.

Shares of the automaker fell 1.7 percent intraday to Rs 540.55 apiece

Key Sales Highlights (YoY):

• Passenger vehicle sales fell 15 percent to 16,831 units.
• Utility vehicle sales declined 10 percent to 16,003 units.
• Sales of cars and vans including company’s unit Mahindra Electric Mobility Ltd. fell 56 percent to 828 units.
• Commercial vehicle sales fell 17 percent to 15,969 units.
• Light commercial vehicle sales up to 3.5T fell 16 percent to 14,874 units.
• Light commercial vehicle sales above 3.5T rose 7 percent to 678 units.
• Medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales slumped 52 percent to 417 units.
• Three wheeler sales fell 16 percent to 4,674 units.
• Total domestic vehicle sales declined 16 percent to 37,474 units.
• Total exports rose 3 percent to 2,668 units.

Tractor Sales Highlights (YoY)

• Domestic sales declined 11 percent to 19,174 units.
• Exports fell 26 percent to 818 units.

Shares of Maruti Suzuki traded 0.3 percent higher at Rs 5,482 after the company announced its July sales.

The country’s largest carmaker sold 1.09 lakh units last month, a fall of 33.5 percent from the year ago period, according to its stock exchange filing. This is the steepest fall since August 2012.

• Sales of mini segment fell 69.3 percent to 11,577 units.
• Sales of compact segment fell 22.7 percent to 57,512 units.
• Sales of Ciaz stood at 2,397 units.
• Sales of utility vehicles fell 38.1 percent to 15,178 units.
• Sales of Vans fell 37.9 percent to 9,814 units.
• Sales of Super Carry rose 0.5 percent to 1,732 units.
• Total domestic passenger vehicle sales fell 36.7 percent to 96,478lakh units.
• Total domestic sales fell 36.3 percent to 98,210 lakh units.
• Total exports declined 9.4 percent to 9,258 units.

The sales of new WagonR are reported under compact segment and the sales number of old discontinued WagonR are however, reported in the mini sub-segment effective February 2019, the company said.

Shares of Bajaj Auto fell 1.7 percent to Rs 2,473.60 after the company announced its July sales data.

The company's total sales declined 5 percent year-on-year to 3.81 lakh vehicles last month, according to its stock exchange filing.

Key Sales Highlights (YoY)

• Domestic motorcycle sales fell 15 percent to 1.71 lakh units.
• Motorcycle exports rose 15 percent to 1.51 lakh units.
• Total motorcycle sales fell 3 percent 3.22 lakh units.
• Domestic commercial vehicles sales declined 4 percent to 34,492 units.
• Commercial vehicles’ exports fell 21 percent to 24,828 units.
• Total commercial vehicle sales fell 12 percent to 59,320 units.
• Total domestic sales declined 13 percent to 2.05 lakh units.
• Total exports rose 8 percent to 1.76 lakh units.

MG Motor India sold MG Hector 1,508 units in July, according to its press statement.

The company said it has temporarily stopped bookings for MG Hector due to an overwhelming response. It has received 28,000 bookings so far.

Escorts Ltd. sold 4,860 tractors in July, a decline of 13.4 percent from the year-ago month, according to its exchange filing. Shares fell as much as 4 percent to Rs 451.10 each.

Key Highlights (YoY):

• Domestic sales fell 17.8 percent to 4,505 units.
• Export sales shot up 179.5 percent to 355 units.

Car and two-wheeler sales declined again in seasonally weak July, according to a BloombergQuint survey of 10 large automobile dealers, suggesting consumption and discretionary spending hasn’t revived.

Inventory levels of two-wheelers remain higher than that of cars, the survey revealed. While the average inventory period for cars was around a month, the period for two-wheelers was nearly twice that, the dealers said.

India is in the midst of an auto sector slowdown that started around the Diwali festive season last year. That forced automakers to lay off workers and shut showrooms across the country.

Also, automobile firms cut production by 11 percent in the April-June period of 2019-20 amid a prolonged auto sector slowdown, India Ratings and Research said in a report released on Wednesday.

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