The gap between demand and supply in the automobile industry has currently widened. It is weighed down by the hike in raw material costs and the persisting semiconductor shortage. However, auto original equipment makers (OEMs) are optimistic of a healthy recovery from the second Covid wave. Hopes of a good festive season demand are setting the momentum for sales.
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) reported domestic passenger vehicle sales at 63,111 units in Sept’21, a de-growth of 40% m-o-m amidst reduced production owing to parts shortages. MSIL registered total wholesales of 86,380 units in September. This includes total domestic sales of 66,415 units, sales to other OEMs of 2,400 units, and exports of 17,565 units.
“Sales volume of the company in Sept’21 was adversely impacted due to shortage of electronic components. The company took all possible measures to limit the adverse impact,” the company said.
MSIL is expecting total vehicle production in the festive month of October at two of its plants to be only around 60% of normal levels due to the global chip shortage.
Tata Motors witnessed a marginal growth of 3.3% m-o-m in domestic sales at 55,988 units in Sept’ against 54,190 units in Aug’21. In the passenger vehicle segment, the automaker witnessed a growth of 8% to 25,730 units in September as against 28,018 units sold in Aug’21. Meanwhile, exports for the company stood at 3,000 units last month.
Shailesh Chandra, President, Tata Motors Ltd, said, “This growth has come on the back of demand recovery in the industry post-the Covid second wave and a strong response to its ‘New Forever’ range of cars and SUVs.”
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd logged overall sales (passenger vehicles + commercial vehicles + exports) of 28,112 units in Sept’21, down 29% m-o-m compared to 30,585 units in Aug’21. In the utility vehicles segment, Mahindra sold 12,863 vehicles in September.
The passenger vehicles segment (which includes UVs, cars and vans) sold 13,134 vehicles while exports for the month of September stood at 2,529 units.
Mahindra had announced ‘no production days’ for a period of approximately seven days last month owing to the semiconductor shortage in the auto industry. However, the company also said that the shutdown will not impact the launch and production ramp-up of the XUV700 and the bookings for its latest model which are set to commence soon.
Bajaj Auto, the Pune-based automaker, reported total sales at 4,02,021 units in Sept’21, up nearly 8% m-o-m. Total domestic sales rose to 192,348 units in Sept’21 against 172,595 units in Aug’21.
Two-wheeler domestic sales in September stood at 173,945 units, down 10% m-o-m, while total exports also saw a marginal growth of 4% m-o-m at 209,673 units last month.
Ashok Leyland Ltd reported overall sales of 9,533 units in September, an increase of 1.8% over August, according to the company’s exchange filings. Domestic sales rose to 8,787 units in September from 8,400 units in August. Domestic medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales rose to 4,529 units last month from 3,986 units in August.
Escorts Ltd’s tractor sales rose in September amid record monsoon activity during the month. Tractor sales rose 54.8% m-o-m to 8,816 units, the company informed the exchanges.
However, Escorts said that rainfall in September has delayed harvesting in some parts of the country resulting in two-to-four-week delays in the onset of the festive demand.
The company sold 7,975 units and 841 units in the domestic and overseas markets, respectively. The commodity inflation continues to be a concern for the company while all the other macro-economic factors remain favourable.
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