Driven by increased consumer demand and the easing semiconductor shortage, the Indian auto industry has begun to grow steadily over the last couple of months. Even in August’23, almost every OEM grew significantly over the last year. Moreover, many of the OEMs have also announced to have initiated the expansion of their production capacity, given rising demand.
Leading Indian carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) reported total sales of 189,082 units in August 2023, which included 156,114 units of PVs and 2,564 units of its LCV sold in the domestic market, representing a growth of 14.47% YoY in terms of total sales and 13.32% YoY growth in domestic sales.
Earlier this month, the carmaker announced its decision to acquire Suzuki Motor Gujarat (SMG). R C Bhargava, Chairman, MSIL, had said that the deal would be completed before March 31, 2024. The OEM has a capacity of over two million cars and is moving towards doubling this by FY31. With a host of priorities relating to the reduction of carbon footprint and powertrain technologies like EVs, hybrids, CNG, and ethanol, among others, coexisting for a longer period, “we have to now consider various alternative technologies available in India,” he added.
Taking second place this time around is the Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor India (HMI), with domestic sales of 53,830 units, representing an 8.72% YoY growth in the month. HMI also announced an expansion to its capacity in the month by signing an Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) to acquire and assign identified assets related to General Motors India (GMI)’s Talegaon plant in Maharashtra.
Tata Motors, meanwhile, posted domestic sales of 45,933 units in August’23, which is 3% lower than the 47,351 units it sold in the same time last year. In Spetember’23, the company is expected to launch its Nexon facelift, and with that, the popular EV on Indian roads, the Nexon EV, will also see an upgrade. Moreover, the company recently revealed its new EV brand identity, ‘Tata.ev’. Developed with Landor & Fitch, the new brand identity reflects the platform 'Move with Meaning' with sustainability at its core.
Mahindra and Mahindra posted retails of 37,270 vehicles in the month, making it the highest ever sales for the brand with a growth rate of 25% YoY. Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) reported overall sales of 22,910 units in August 2023, with domestic sales at 20,970 units and exports of 1,940 units. MG Motor India’s retail sales for August this year stood at 4,185 units, with a 10% YoY growth.
On the CV side, Tata Motors leads the charts, with retails of 30,748 units in the domestic market, a 4.9% YoY jump over last year’s 29,313 units in the domestic retail market. M&M, on the other hand, retailed 23,613 units in the domestic market, with a growth of 9.91% over the 21,482 units sold in the same time last year.
VE Commercial Vehicles recorded sales of 6,476 units in August 2023 compared to 5,003 units in August 2022, recording a growth of 29.40%. This includes 6,239 units of the Eicher brand and 237 units of the Volvo brand. Ashok Leyland, meanwhile, posted 9% YoY growth with retails of 14,545 units in the month as against 13,301 units in the same time last year.
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