There is positive sentiment across the Indian automotive industry as every player posted substantial year-on-year growth in May 2022. In fact, this May, domestic sales have been higher than the previous two years – with 2020 and 2021 being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic – and have inched closer to the sales numbers of May 2019.
Puneet Gupta, Director, S&P Global, stated that the increase in the growth is primarily due to the fact that the base for the last year was very low. The other good part about the numbers, Gupta said, is that manufacturing is getting back on track.
However, he pointed out that due to the current increase in commodity prices and high inflation rate, the manufacturers are also witnessing higher cancelation rates. If the vehicle price continue to increase or even stay at the current level, it will be very difficult for the industry to take a big leap in the next year, he said.
Even the EVs that are to be introduced this year should be launched at a lower price in order to keep the demand on track. It is very important that the growth in sales continues this year, he said.
Atul Chanel, Director, Autobei said the market is quite difficult at this stage. “Recession started after 2019, resulting in high inflation rate and poor customer sentiments. The situation continues as a result of which growth this year for the auto industry is very difficult if compared to the non-COVID years,” he said.
Four-Wheeler
As Gupta said, the staggering growth numbers in May 2022 are primarily due to the low sales numbers in the Delta variant-impacted May 2021.
Leading Indian carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India sold 124,474 vehicles in the domestic market in May 2022 as opposed to 32,903 units in the month last year, resulting in a 278.3% YoY growth. Notably, May 2022 sales are still lower than the 134,641 units the company retailed in May 2019.
With retail sales of 43,341 units and 26,904 vehicles respectively, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra registered YoY growth of 185% and 236% in May 2022. Likewise, SAIC-owned MG Motor India registered a 294.4% YoY growth, closing the month with retails of 4,008 units as opposed to 1,016 units in the same month last year.
MG Motor said it has grown 99.6% month-on-month over April 2022, suggesting an improvement in the chip availability.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor sold a total of 10,216 vehicles in May 2022, reporting a 1,344% YoY growth against the 707 units it retailed in May last year. Czech manufacturer Skoda Auto India too reported a 543% YoY jump in sales, retailing 4,604 units in May 2022 as compared to 716 units in May 2021.
The Korean carmaker duo of Kia India and Hyundai Motor India reported YoY growth of approximately 69% each in May 2022 with retails of 18,718 units and 42,293 units respectively. Last May, HMI had managed retails of 25,001 units, while Kia India had retailed 11,050 units.
With domestic sales of 8,188 units in May 2022, Honda Cars India registered a 303% YoY growth over the corresponding month last year, when it had retailed 2,032 units.
Two-Wheeler
In the two-wheeler segment, market leaders Hero MotoCorp reported a 205% growth with retails of 486,704 units in May 2022 as compared to 159,538 units in the corresponding month last year. Japanese two-wheeler maker, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India posted a growth of 727.6% by closing the month with retails of 320,844 units as compared to 38,764 units it sold in May 2021.
Meanwhile, Bajaj Auto sold 96,102 units in the domestic market during May 2022, marking a growth of 59% over the 60,342 units sold in May 2021. TVS Motor’s domestic two-wheeler sales too grew by 267.6% YoY from 52,084 units in May 2021 to 191,482 units in May 2022.
Among other Indian two-wheeler makers, Royal Enfield’s sales grew by 167% with retails of 53,525 units in May 2022, while electric scooter maker, Ather Energy reported sales of 3,787 units in May 2022, making it the highest ever sales for the company in a month.
Three-Wheeler
In the domestic three-wheeler segment, Bajaj Auto sold 16,206 units in the month under review as against just 488 units it sold in May 2021. TVS Motor’s 3W sales grew by 28% from 12,473 units in May 2021 to 15,924 units in May 2022. Mahindra & Mahindra, meanwhile reported growth of 1240% YoY with retails of 3,645 units in the month as compared to 272 units in May last year.
Commercial Vehicles
Tata Motors’ CV sales grew by 188% on a YoY basis to 32,818 units in May, 21,417 units more than what it managed in May 2021. Ashok Leyland sold 12,458 units in the domestic market, up 355% from 2,738 in the corresponding month a year ago.
With sales of 5,637 units in May 2022 as compared to 1,223 units in May 2021, VECV recorded a growth of 360.9%. M&M posted sales of 21,149 units of its CVs in the month, resulting in a 192% YoY growth over the 7,236 units it had sold in May 2021.
Paritosh Gupta, Sr Market Analyst – M&HCV, S&P Global said in 2022 several new construction projects have been launched by the government, and fleet utilisation levels are also running very high. Thus, we are looking at double digit (18-20%) growth rates for FY2022.
Farm Equipment
In the farm equipment sector, Escorts Agri Machinery and M&M reported a YoY growth of 24.5% and 48% respectively. While Escorts Agri Machinery managed to close the month with sales of 7,667 units in May 2022 as opposed to 6,158 units in May 2021, M&M’s sales grew by 11,538 units in the month over the corresponding month last year with retails of 35,722 in May 22.
Sonalika Tractors registered a 42.1% YoY growth by closing the month with sales of 12,615 units as compared to 8,878 units in May 21.