The Indian automotive industry seems to be getting back to its glory days as many of the players reported their best ever yearly sales in FY23.
Among carmakers, Maruti Suzuki India reported its highest ever total sales of 1,966,164 units in FY23, a 19% increase over the previous fiscal. This included 1,644,876 units in the domestic market, exports of 259,333 units and 61,955 units to other OEMs. Retails in March 2023, however, fell marginally to 170,071 units from the 170,395 units the company had retailed in March 2022.
Domestic passenger vehicle sales dropped 0.82% YoY to 132,763 units in March, while for the year, the growth was 20.67% at 1,606,870 units over the corresponding period last year. Exports for both March ’23 (over March ’22) and FY23 (over FY22) grew 13.67% and 8.79% respectively.
Hyundai Motor India too reported its highest ever domestic sales of 567,546 units in FY23 with a YoY growth of 17.9%. Together with exports of 153,019 units in FY23, the company achieving its highest ever annual total sales volume of 720,565 units, registering a YoY growth of 18%.
In March, the South Korean carmaker reported sales of 50,600 units in the domestic market, representing a 13.5% YoY growth. HMIL also exported 10,900 units in March, giving it a combined sales volume of 61,500 units – 11.2% higher over March ’22.
Meanwhile, HMIL’s sister brand Kia India reported a 44% YoY growth in FY23, closing the last fiscal with sales of 269,229 units. The carmaker reported its highest ever market share of 7.4% in Q4FY23 with 74,735 units. The company sold 21,501 units domestically in March ’23, and exported 6,200 units. In FY23, the company exported a total of 85,754 units.
One of the strongest performers in the Indian market in recent years, Kia India also registered 24.4% growth in Q4 FY23 as against the corresponding quarter last year. Its exports too grew by 22% in the sae quarter as against the subsequent quarter last year.
With sales of 89,351 units in the domestic passenger vehicles segment, Tata Motors posted a 3% YoY growth in March ‘23 over March of last year. The company’s PV segment also registered a 6% growth YoY in Q4 FY23 over Q4 FY22. For the full fiscal, Tata Motors reported a 35% increase in its PV sales, retailing 931,957 units in FY23 over 692,554 units in FY22.
Mahindra and Mahindra, with its SUVs, posted the highest ever sales both in the month of March 2023 as well as FY23. March’23 saw retails of 35,997 units representing a 30% YoY increase and surpassing the previous best of 34,262 units of October 2022. Meanwhile, the company posted a 59% YoY increase in retail to 359,253 vehicles in the financial year.
A statement quoting Sailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility stated that the company posted its highest ever annual domestic sales of 538,640 units, achieving a robust 46% sales growth over FY22 and registering its third successive year of industry beating growth.
It was a record month for SAIC-owned MG Motor India as well. The company said it has achieved its highest ever monthly sales in March 2023 with 6,051 units, registering a 28% YoY growth. The company hasn’t released its FY23 numbers.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor witnessed a 9% YoY growth in March ’23 with sales of 18,670 units against 17,131 units sold in the same month last year. Additionally, the company also reported a 41% YoY increase in sales for FY23 with retails of 174,015 units compared to 123,770 units retailed in the previous fiscal.
Honda Cars India registered annual domestic sales of 91,418 units during FY23, recording 7% growth over the previous financial year. The company had sold 85,609 units during FY22. The Japanese carmaker also exported 22,722 units during FY23 as compared to 19,401 units in FY22, registering over 17% of growth.
In March ‘23, Honda retailed 6,692 units in the domestic market, and exported 3,189 units. This entails a minor 1.56% YoY growth in domestic volumes, and a 42.17% YoY growth in exports.
Nissan Motor India too reported a 23% YoY growth in its wholesale numbers in FY23, retailing 94,219 units overall. However, unlike other players in the market, Nissan’s domestic wholesale of 33,611 units is almost half of its exports of 60,608 units in FY23. In March, the company retailed 10,519 units in total, which gave the company a 73% growth YoY. Of these, domestic wholesale accounted for 3,260 units while exports were at 7,259 units.
During the fiscal, Nissan Motor India’s exports grew 55%, while March saw domestic sales increase by 8%, while exports increased 45%.
Two-Wheelers
In the two-wheeler segment, TVS Motor registered a growth of 3% with sales increasing from 307,954 units in March ‘22 to 317,152 units in March ‘23. The OEM’s total two-wheeler sales registered a growth of 5%, increasing from 292,918 units in March ‘22 to 307,559 units in March ‘23.
In the domestic market, TVS two-wheelers registered growth of 22% with sales increasing from 196,596 units in March ‘22 to 240,780 units in March this year. TVS iQube electric recorded sales of 15,364 units in March ‘23 as against sales of 1,799 units in March last year.
Q4 FY23 saw the company retail 8.40 lakh two-wheelers units as against 8.15 lakh units in the corresponding quarter the previous fiscal.
Royal Enfield sold 72,235 motorcycles in March ‘23 against 67,677 units sold during the same period last year. For FY23, the company recorded total sales of 834,895 motorcycles, registering its highest-ever overall sales in history, beating its previous high of FY19, and 39% growth over the previous financial year.
Hero MotoCorp-backed Ather Energy sold 11,754 units in March ‘23, registering a 353% YoY growth. Ola Electric clocked its best month ever in March, surpassing 27,000 units in sales, while topping the sales charts for the seventh consecutive month. Greaves Electric Mobility, meanwhile, retailed over one lakh units of its Ampere-branded electric two-wheelers in FY23.
Commercial Vehicles
Leading Indian CV maker, Tata Motors posted a 2% YoY growth in March ’23 with sales of 45,307 units. During Q4 FY23 and FY23, the company witnessed growth of 2% and 22% YoY respectively, retailing 112,145 units in Q4 and 393,317 units in FY23.
Maruti Suzuki India posted a 5.9% YoY growth in retail sales of Super Carry in March ‘23 at 4,024 units. The company posted a 12.4% YoY growth in FY23 with retails of 38,006 units.
On the CV side, M&M recorded a sale of 22,282 vehicles in March 2023, growing by 12% YoY and an annual sale of 248,576 vehicles, representing a 40% YoY growth. The LCV segment recorded its highest-ever annual sales of 198,121 units in F23, while the MHCV registered a 77% YoY growth with retails of 1,469 units in March 2023 and an annual sale of 10,036 units, registering a growth of 56%.
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