Car sales in September set to touch fresh highs on strong festive demand
Car sales in India are estimated to scale new highs in September taking the monthly, quarterly and first half (fiscal year) volumes to a record high. Fueled by an encouraging consumer demand in the ongoing festive season and spate of new model launches in the SUV segment that has helped sustain buyer interest, car makers are likely to dispatch around 365,000-370,000 units in September 2023 implying a growth of 3-4%, according to the industry sources.
Auto firms in India count dispatches to dealers as sales.
“We do expect the September sales to be one of the highest ever for the industry crossing 360,000 units. Even as the absolute volumes are expected to be high, the percentage growth may not be high on account of a high base of September 2022 when the wholesales stood at 355,000 units,” said Shashank Srivastava, senior executive officer- sales and marketing at car market leader, Maruti Suzuki India.
Tarun Garg, chief operating officer at Hyundai Motor India concurred.
“At Hyundai we expect a growth of 9% in September. The pace of fresh bookings has been strong.
For us, the Exter has been adding to the growth momentum. The industry will see around 3% growth over the last year with around 365,000-368,000 units (including luxury cars),” said Garg.
Auto makers are set to continue with the aggressive pace of dispatches in October and November as the peak of the festive season sets in with Navratri on October 14 after the dry spell of Shraadh—which begins from September 29 and ends on October 13.
