Among all segments in the Indian automotive industry, the passenger vehicle segment was quick to recover after the COVID-induced lockdown last year. The month-on-month growth was gradual but certain, until the second wave of the pandemic hit again, putting production and sales almost to a halt.
Data released by the apex body of dealers, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) put overall passenger vehicle retail sales at 2,386,316 units in FY21 as against 2,773,714 units in FY20, resulting in a decline of 14% YoY.
In terms of OEMs’ market share, Mahindra & Mahindra saw the steepest decline of 2.32% in FY21, largely on account of the semiconductor shortage, which has disrupted production and supply of its popular model, Thar. The company lost market share YoY to be placed fifth in the list of top performing passenger vehicle makers.
Interestingly, Maruti Suzuki whose overall retail sales fell to 1,162,752 units in FY21, saw a marginal rise in its market share by 0.40 basis points to 48.73%. India’s largest carmaker has many offerings in the small car segment, which were in high demand due to the rising need for personal mobility.
Second-placed Hyundai Motor India, third-placed Tata Motors and fourth-placed Kia India grew their market shares on the back of new product launches like the Creta, Altroz and Sonet.
| Top 10 Four-Wheeler (4W) Makers by Market Share | |||||
| OEMs | FY21 | FY20 | Change in Position | ||
| Units Sold | Market Share (in %) | Units Sold | Market Share (in %) | ||
| Maruti Suzuki India | 1,162,752 | 48.73 | 1,340,430 | 48.33 | Increased |
| Hyundai Motor Company | 414,304 | 17.36 | 465,522 | 16.78 | Increased |
| Tata Motors | 187,809 | 7.87 | 162,489 | 5.86 | Increased |
| Kia Motors | 131,274 | 5.5 | 62,835 | 2.27 | Increased |
| Mahindra & Mahindra | 127,623 | 5.35 | 212,797 | 7.67 | Dropped |
| Toyota Kirloskar Motors | 77,236 | 3.24 | 109,989 | 3.97 | Dropped |
| Renault India | 75,286 | 3.15 | 85,649 | 3.09 | Increased |
| Honda Cars India | 71,423 | 2.99 | 116,264 | 4.19 | Dropped |
| Ford India | 41,875 | 1.75 | 65,384 | 2.36 | Dropped |
| MG Motor India | 26,739 | 1.12 | 19,011 | 0.69 | Increased |
“Companies that had a full line up and fresher portfolio capitalised on return demand. Some OEMs, however, struggled and were hit harder by semiconductor shortage relative to others and that probably explains why some did well than others,” said Ravi G Bhatia, President & Director, Jato Dynamics.
A similar trend was seen in the bottom five as well. Car manufacturers such as Toyota Kirloskar Motors, Honda Cars India and Ford India saw a dip in market share. While there was a marginal decline in the market share of Toyota Kirloskar Motors, Honda and Ford saw declines of 1.2 and 0.6 basis points respectively.
Puneet Gupta, Director – Automotive Forecasting, IHS said, “The biggest setback for the car industry is the fleet car industry, which is around 12% of new car sales. Companies operating saw a decline in sales and market share.”
He also pointed out that the global shortage of semiconductors added to the woes of car manufactures. Many companies relying on foreign supplies are facing production issues and not able to fulfil the demand of popular products.
Drop In Volumes
Hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, most manufacturers saw a drop in their overall sales volume in FY21. There were exceptions, of course, like that of Tata Motors.
Market leaders Maruti Suzuki India experienced a 13.26% drop in its sales last fiscal, closing with 1,162,752 units as against 1,340,430 units in FY20. Similarly, Hyundai Motor India closed FY21 at 414,304 units, resulting in an 11% drop against the sales of 465,522 units in the earlier fiscal.
| OEMs | FY21 | FY20 | Change (in %) |
| Maruti Suzuki India | 1,162,752 | 1,340,430 | -13.26 |
| Hyundai Motor Company | 414,304 | 465,522 | -11.00 |
| Tata Motors | 187,809 | 162,489 | 15.58 |
| Kia Motors | 131,274 | 62,835 | 108.92 |
| Mahindra & Mahindra | 127,623 | 212,797 | -40.03 |
| Toyota Kirloskar Motors | 77,236 | 109,989 | -29.78 |
| Renault India | 75,286 | 85,649 | -12.10 |
| Honda Cars India | 71,423 | 116,264 | -38.57 |
| Ford India | 41,875 | 65,384 | -35.96 |
| MG Motor India | 26,739 | 19,011 | 40.65 |
Mahindra’s YoY sales dropped 40.03%, Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s volumes fell 29.78%, and Honda Cars India and Ford India reported drop in sales volume to the tune of 38.57% and 35.96% respectively.
Three OEMs in the Top 10 list reported positive growth in volumes. Kia India reported a 108.92% hike in volumes to close FY21 at 131,274 units. Tata Motors climbed to the third spot in the list with sales volume of 187,809 units – a 15.58% increase from the previous year’s 162,489 units. MG Motor India was the other OEM that reported a healthy growth of 40.65%, closing FY21 with 26,739 units.
N.B.: The data in this story does not have figures from AP, MP, LD & TS as they are not yet on Vahan 4. Vehicle Registration Data has been collated as on 08.05.21 in collaboration with Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Government of India and has been gathered from 1,289 out of 1,493 RTOs.
Data Source: FADA, Vahan