March Auto Sales Live: Bajaj Sales Rise The Most In Three Months
Catch live updates on how Indian automakers fared in the month of March.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Bajaj Sales Rise 17.6%
The company sold 3.93 lakh units last month, a rise of 17.6 percent from same period last year, the Pune-based automaker said in an exchange filing.
Key Sales Highlights (YoY)
- Domestic motorcycle sales rose 39 percent to 2.20 lakh units.
- Motorcycle exports fell 7 percent to 1.03 lakh units.
- Total motorcycle sales rose 20 percent 3.24 lakh units.
- Domestic commercial vehicles sales declined 13 percent to 38,972 units.
- Commercial vehicles’ exports jumped 56 percent to 30,841 units.
- Total commercial vehicle sales rose 8 percent to 69,813 units.
- Total domestic sales rose 27 percent to 2.59 lakh units.
- Total exports rose 3 percent to 1.34 lakh units.
Eicher Sales Fall 20%
Royal Enfield-maker Eicher Motors Ltd. saw monthly sales in March decline 20 percent to 60,831 units.
- Sales of models with engine capacity up to 350cc fell 21 percent.
- Sales of models with engine capacity over 350cc fell 11 percent.
- Exports rose 28 percent.
TVS Motor Sales Remain Flat
TVS Motor Company Ltd.'s monthy sales in March remained flat at 3.2 lakh units.
- Two wheeler sales fell 1.5 percent to 3.1 lakh units. This was due to a drop in scooter sales, while motorcycle sales grew 5 percent.
- Exports rose 28 percent to 76,405 units.
- Three wheeler sales rose 33 percent to 14,444 units.
Tata Motors Sales Drop 1%
Tata Motors Ltd. sold 68,709 units in March with sales falling one percent due to weak consumer sentiment.
Commercial vehicle sales in March grew 4 percent over last year, it said in its stock exchange filing. "The market however, continues to exhibit subdued demand on back of lingering effects of liquidity crisis, lag effect of the implementation of revised axle load norms, slowing economy and weak IIP growth index.
- Medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales declined 9 percent while light commercial vehicle sales rose 17 percent.
- Cargo and pickup sales grew 11 percent.
- Car sales declined 12 percent.
- Exports too fell 11 percent.
Hero Moto Sales Fall 20%
Hero MotoCorp Ltd. sold 5.8 lakh units in March, a decline of 20 percent over last year.
India’s largest bikemaker too saw sales decline in March “due to a conscious effort to bring down the inventory levels in the system”.
Honda Cars Sales Rise 27%
Honda Cars India Ltd. sold 17,202 units in March compared to 13,574 units in the corresponding month in 2018, according to Bloomberg.
SML ISUZU Sales Rise 14%
SML ISUZU Ltd.’s sales rose by over 14 percent year-on-year to 2,003 units in March, the automaker said in a stock exchange notification.
The stock rose 3.8 percent to Rs 864.90 per share. The stock had advanced 8 percent intraday.
M&M Auto Marginally Higher; Tractor Sales Fall
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.’s auto sales rose 1 percent on a yearly basis last month while its tractor sales fell 31 percent, according to its stock exchange filing.
Key Sales Highlights (YoY):
- Passenger vehicle sales rose 4 percent to 27,646 units.
- Utility vehicle sales rose 5 percent to 25,801 units.
- Sales of cars and vans including company’s unit Mahindra Electric Mobility Ltd. fell 6 percent to 1,845 units.
- Commercial vehicle sales fell 4 percent to 24,423 units.
- Light commercial vehicle sales up to 3.5T fell 3 percent to 22,471 units.
- Light commercial vehicle sales above 3.5T fell 3 percent to 1,035 units.
- Medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales declined 33 percent to 917 units.
- Three wheeler sales rose 5 percent to 6,943 units.
- Total domestic vehicle sales rose 1 percent to 59,012 units.
- Total exports rose 15 percent to 3,940 units.
Tractor Sales Highlights (YoY)
- Domestic sales declined 32 percent to 18,446 units.
- Exports fell 6 percent to 1,242 units.
Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. erased gains to trade a little changed at Rs 675.20.
Escorts Sales Rise Marginally Higher In March
Escorts Ltd. sold 11,905 tractors in March, an increase of 1 percent from the year-ago month, according to its exchange filing. The stock fell as much as 0.84 percent to Rs 789.35 after the announcement.
Key Highlights (YoY):
- Domestic sales fell 1.1 percent to 11,431 units.
- Export sales shot up 103.4 percent to 474 units.
Ashok Leyland Shares Swings After March Sales Decline
Shares of Ashok Leyland fluctuated between gains and losses to trade little changed at Rs 91.85.
The company sold 21,535 units last month, a fall of 4 percent from the year-ago period, the truck and bus maker said in an exchange filing.
Key Sales Highlights (YoY)
- Domestic medium and heavy commercial truck sales fell 8 percent to 13,134 units.
- Domestic medium and heavy commercial bus sales rose 5 percent to 2,101 units.
- Total domestic medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales declined 7 percent to 15,235 units.
- Domestic light commercial vehicle sales rose 1 percent to 5,286 units.
- Total domestic vehicle sales fell 5 percent to 20,521 units.
Sales Including Exports (YoY)
- Total medium and heavy commercial truck sales fell 8 percent to 13,620 units.
- Total medium and heavy commercial bus sales were rose to 2,414 units.
- Total medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales fell 6 percent to 16,034 units.
- Total light commercial vehicle sales rose 2 percent to 5,501 units.
Toyota Kirloskar Sales Rise 7%
The local sales of Toyota Kirloskar Motor grew by 7 percent year-on-year , according to Bloomberg.
Maruti Suzuki Sales Fall The Most In Seven Months
The company sold 1.58 lakh units last month, a fall of 1.6 percent from March 2018, India’s largest carmaker said in a stock exchange filing.
Key Sales highlights (YoY)
- Sales of mini segment fell 55.1 percent to 16,826 units.
- Sales of compact segment rose 19.8 percent to 82,532 units.
- Sales of Ciaz fell 15 percent to 3,672 units.
- Sales of utility vehicles rose 12.3 percent to 25,563 units.
- Sales of Vans rose 20.1 percent to 16,438 units.
- Sales of Super Carry rose 82.9 percent to 2,582 units.
- Total domestic passenger vehicle sales fell 1.5 percent to 1.45 lakh units.
- Total domestic sales fell 0.7 percent to 1.47 lakh units.
- Total exports slumped 12.9 percent to 10,463 units.
The sales of new WagonR are reported under compact segment and the the sales number of old discontinued WagonR are however, reported in the mini sub-segment effective February 2019, the company said.
Shares of the company rose as much as 2.5 percent to Rs 6,840 after the announcement.
Car sales decline in the pre-election years and the same pattern is being followed currently, said RC Bhargava, its chairman, in an interview with BloombergQuint.
Immediately after elections (in 2009 and 2014), the sales went up sharply. For some reason people stop buying cars before elections. I don’t think anything very major in the economy has happened to justify the slowdown.RC Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki
Here are the key takeaways from the interaction:
- Saw sales picking up sharply post elections in 2009 & 2014.
- BS-VI emission norms and new safety regulations will lead to price hikes.
- Will be introducing cars with upgraded safety and emission norms compliance each quarter from now.
- Have not undertaken any substantial production cuts at Maruti.
Discounts May Not Save Automakers In March
Auto sales either fell or grew only marginally in March, shows a BloombergQuint analysts’ poll and dealers survey. Big discounts offered by most automakers has helped dealers reduce their inventory, suggests the survey.
A high base in March last year means most companies would report a drop in year-on-year volumes, say analysts and dealers.
Sales picked up in the last 15 days of the month, said Milind Kambli, team leader at NBS Mahindra, a M&M dealer. But it may not be enough to make up for the flat sales in the first two weeks of the month, he added.
