Auto demand stays steady in November

livemint.com:

Tata Motors, wholesales of passenger vehicles were 1% lower y-o-y in November, with a modest 7% increase in its EV sales. Mahindra & Mahindra, however, clocked a 32% growth in its utility vehicle wholesales in November, riding on an improvement in supplies and strong demand for SUVs in the market. SUVs accounted for over 53% of all PVs delivered to dealers in November—the highest in a month.

For Hyundai, SUVs comprised 68% of all its sales in November, in large part due to the introduction of its micro-hatch Exter and its refreshed portfolio. Interestingly, more hybrids than electric cars were sold in November, the second straight month for the trend. “Hybrids accounted for 2.1% of the overall market and EVs were slightly lower at just under 2%," Shashank Srivastava, senior executive director, Maruti Suzuki said, adding that customers are starting to see the value of hybrid cars vis-à-vis EVs in the form of lower upfront costs and low emissions, even as hybrid options expand.

“The industry’s stock levels, because of higher retail than wholesale this month, has come down a little bit from 335,000 to 330,200 units estimated at the end of November. However, at 30-35 days inventory, stocks in the channel were on the higher side and an area of concern," Srivastava said, adding this will prompt lower wholesales in December. “We did foresee that wholesales in November and December will taper off, which is being reflected.