The epidemic’s ease and manufacturers managing chip crisis helped the Indian auto industry witness an encouraging trend in February this year.
Skoda Auto India recorded a four-fold growth YoY in February 2022, retailing 4,503 units due to a low base last year, with the Kushaq driving the majority of the sales. Its sister brand Volkswagen Passenger Cars India, also posted 84% growth YoY in February 2022 with a production figure of 4,028 units.
Nissan India’s sub-compact SUV performed similarly. In February 2022, the company reported sales of 6,662 units, representing a 134% year-on-year increase in domestic sales to 2,456 units and a 34% year-on-year increase in exports to 4,206 units.
Riding on the success of the Astor compact SUV, the SAIC-owned MG Motor India reported a 5% growth YoY by retailing 4,528 units in February 2022.
Homegrown Indian automakers also witnessed strong growth. Mahindra & Mahindra reported 80% growth YoY in the PV segment retailing 27,663 units. While Tata Motors increased their PV retail sales by 47% to 39,981 units.
KIA India also saw growth of 8.5% YoY to retain 18,121 units in February 2022. The Seltos drove the majority of the sales with 6,575 units sold in the same period, with Sonet, Carnival and the Caren selling 6,154 units, 283 units and 5,109 units, respectively.
Maruti Suzuki India, on the other hand, recorded a minus 0.25% YoY retailing 164,056 units in February 2022, with domestic sales declining by 8.5% to 140,035 units.
However, exports grew by 109% YoY to 24,021 units in the month, which is the highest, both monthly and in a financial year.
Hyundai Motor India registered degrowth of 14% YoY selling 53,159 units in February 2022. The domestic sales for the company fell by 14.6% to 44,050 units, while the exports fell by 10.7% to 9,109 units YoY.
On a similar note, Honda Cars India also saw a drop of 7.6% YoY with 9,524 units in February 2022. Domestic sales fell by 23% to 7,187 units while the exports witnessed 137% growth to 2,337 units in the same month.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor recorded 38% degrowth YoY in February, selling 8,745 units. However, on an MoM basis, it reported a 19% growth.
Two-Wheeler
HMSI’s domestic sales dropped 30.5%, falling from 411,622 units in February 2021 to 285,677 units in the same month this year. The exports for the company in February 2022 stood at 26,944 units.
TVS Motor saw a 6% drop in sales YoY with 267,625 units in February 2022. However, motorcycle sales grew by 5%, increasing from 137,259 units in February 2021 to 143,523 units in February 2022. At the same time, the scooters sales dropped by 9.3% to 86,616 units in February 2022.
Royal Enfield’s domestic sales fell to 52,135 units in the month, resulting in a 10% drop. However, the exports grew by 119% to 7,025 units.
In the e2W segment, Ather Energy recorded 140% growth YoY in February with 2042 units. Joy e-bike, registered a sale of 4,450 units of e2Ws in February 2022. It witnessed a 12.62% growth in sales during the same month last year.
Commercial Vehicles
The CV segment also saw a similar result, with the majority of the players reporting an upward trend.
The Indian CV maker Mahindra & Mahindra reported a 119% yearly growth with cumulative sales of 20,166 units in February 2022.
Tata Motors posted 11% yearly growth retailing 37,552 units, including exports. While Ashok Leyland recorded 7% growth in February retail sales to 14,657 units. The domestic sales for the company grew by 4% to 13,281 units.
Three-wheeler sales of TVS Motor also grew by 7% in February 2022 to 14,089 units.
However, the Farm Equipment Sector of M&M witnessed degrowth of 27.3% YoY to retail 18,910 units in February 2022. The domestic sales for the company fell by 30.4% to 18,910 units.