Motown starts 2020 on a low key

The country’s motown has started off the New Year on a low key as most automakers faced declining sales.

- Ritwik Sinha

In January 2020, the overall passenger cars sales declined by 5.3 percent over the previous year and majority of the OEMs projected a negative growth. The industry is currently reeling to liquidate BS-4 stocks and all efforts are aligned in the direction.

The country’s largest passenger car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) started off the New Year on a positive note, reporting increased sales after months of degrowth. MSI is has reported a 1.6 percent growth in its total sales (domestic + exports) at 154,123 units in January 2020, compared to 151,721 units in the same month of the previous year.

The company continued its lead in the market with 53.3 percent market share, up from 50.3 percent in January 2019.

Maruti Suzuki

Maruti Suzuki has recorded a marginal increase of 1.7 percent in sales in January 2020 selling 144,499 units in the domestic market as compared to 142,150 units it sold a year ago. The mini and compact segment always have been the major growth drivers for India’s largest carmaker and continue to do so moving ahead. The mini segment with products like the Alto, S-Presso and old WagonR went up by 10.8 percent at 25,885 units against 23,360 units sold in the same month last year. The compact segment including models like the Maruti Suzuki Dzire, Swift, Baleno and new WagonR among others surged by 11.6 percent at 84,340 units compared to 75,571 units sold a year ago.

The utility vehicle (UV) segment has been under pressure for quite some time now and even in January recorded a slump of 26.6 percent at 16,460 units as compared to 22,430 units sold a year ago. That said, company’s UV sales are expected to improve once the 2020 Vitara Brezza petrol goes on sale this year. The model along with the Ertiga MPV has been a significant volume generator but is losing sheen towards the end of its lifecycle, more so with unavailability of a petrol engine.