The past couple of years have been the most challenging for the Indian automobile industry in recent times. Falling demand for vehicles followed by the wrath of a pandemic meant carmakers had to fight the battle on all fronts.
In the midst of all this, the passenger vehicle segment, apart from tractors, was the only segment that showed resilience and witnessed quickly rebound in terms of demand but supply chain and shortage of certain components like semiconductors still pose a challenge.
While the first half of both FY21 and FY22 had similar patterns in the form of events that impacted operations and sales, carmakers were certainly better prepared this fiscal. Let’s look at the numbers: Domestic sales of passenger vehicles grew at an estimated 57.68% in H1 FY22 to close at 1,387,572 units as compared to 879,966 units in the same period in FY21.
Analysts tracking the industry have pointed out that better savings from less travel and less discretionary expenses because of the work from home phenomenon has been the prime factor that drove the growth in the sector. In addition, the need for personal mobility and new launches from the carmakers were the other key factors of growth.
Significantly, H1 FY22 domestic sales of passenger vehicles have surpassed sales in the same period in two pre-COVID years – FY20 and FY19. However, it is still far away from the highs of H1 FY18.
Domestic Sales Trend Of Last Five Fiscal Year
| Period | H1 FY22 | H1 FY21 | H1 FY20 | H1 FY19 | H1 FY18 |
| PV sales | 1,387,572 | 879,966 | 1,333,304 | 1,321,833 | 1,719,945 |
Sources: SIAM
Top 5 Market Leaders in H1 FY22
Three out of top five car manufacturers have gained market share in H1 FY22. The biggest gainer among them is Tata Motors, whose market share went up by 2.31 basis points, while Mahindra & Mahindra and Kia India gained 0.90 and 1.03 basis points respectively in the analysed period.
It is interesting to note that despite recording a rise in sales, leading car manufacturers Maruti Suzuki India and Hyundai Motor India saw a dip in their respective market shares by 5.13 basis points and 0.91 basis points. At the end of H1 FY22, MSIL’s market share stood at 41.97%, while HMIL cornered a 17.16% share of the market.
Industry experts indicated that market share in the present scenario is more production-led than sales-led. Due to a broken supply chain and shortage of certain parts, companies who have been able to produce more are able to sell more.
Apart from this, companies that have launched new products in the last one year – Renault, Nissan, Skoda and MG Motors – have also seen a rise in their market shares.