Mint Quick Edit | Maruti Q2 results signal: Slump or blip?
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. A day after the finance ministry flagged weakness in urban demand, Maruti Suzuki’s quarterly results seemed to confirm that concern.
The carmaker’s net profit fell 17.4% from a year earlier to ₹3,069 crore in the three months through September. Taxation policy tweaks that impacted debt mutual funds caused an ₹837.6 crore dent, but it isn’t as if Maruti’s sales were much to talk about.
Domestic volumes fell 3.9% to 463,834 units, although a 12.1% rise in export volumes offered respite. Slow local offtake can partly be pinned on heavy rains keeping people indoors.
But is this urban consumption slump more than just a blip? Firms selling household products have reported weak urban sales, with some talking of potentially larger implications. This has stirred a debate on how India’s middle class is faring.
While the finance ministry’s report on the economy’s September performance noted moderation in urban demand, the big question is whether this is an aberration or India’s economic growth is proving too uneven for consumer markets to boom the way we usually expect of a rapidly emerging economy. Let’s wait for results of this year’s ongoing festive-season quarter.
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