Carmakers hit sales record in October
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd has cut its fiscal year passenger vehicle wholesale estimates for the industry, and now expects growth in the range of 5.5-6.5% from the previous estimate of 5-7%. “Now, the stock level is high at 335,000 units, roughly equivalent to 30 days of sales. The first 15 days of November are auspicious, especially for the northern and central parts of the country, and November will depend on how the first 15 days of retail have happened.
If retail sales is a little lower than expected, then we might see an impact on the wholesale number going forward from November because the stock is quite high," said Shashank Srivastava, senior executive director of Maruti Suzuki. Maruti Suzuki saw sales grow 20% to 168,047 units in October from 140,337 the year earlier, nearly double that of the industry, Srivastava added. The company increased its market share to 43% from 41.7% a year earlier.
Carmakers saw stronger sales growth from rural areas than urban regions, though demand for entry-level cars continued to remain subdued. Srivastava said rural demand grew 11% in October, beating the 8% growth in urban demand. Garg pointed out that at 19.9% of its sales in October, the contribution of rural demand was at its highest ever.
Rural consumers, too, displayed the same broad preferences as those in urban regions, favouring sport utility vehicles, Garg said, attributing the robustness of rural demand to steadily improving rural road infrastructure. Customers continued to favour SUVs during the festive season, with the segment’s contribution to overall sales climbing to 50.7% in October. SUV maker Mahindra & Mahindra recorded its best-ever domestic sales volume at 43,700 units last month, a growth of 30% from a year
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