November Slowdown For Motown As Sales Take Backseat

India’s autoville suffered a heavy blow in terms of November sales as the country’s top car makers like Maruti, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Toyota and Ford all saw degrowth in sales. However, bucking the trend, Mahindra and Honda saw double-digit sales growth.

- Ritwik Sinha

The country’s largest passenger car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), registered 0.7 percent decline in its November 2018 sales on the back of weak exports.

The company sold a total of 153,539 units in November 2018 against sales of 154,600 units in November 2017. The total sales includes 146,018 units in the domestic market and 7,521 units of exports. Its domestic sales were up by 0.5 percent year-on-year, while exports fell 19.1 percent to 7521 units.

Total domestic passenger vehicle sales were down 0.3 percent at 143,890, while light commercial vehicles sales increased by 112.2 percent at 2,128 units.

Sales of Maruti Suzuki’s entry-level segment, which includes the Alto range and WagonR, went down by a massive 21.6 percent, while sales in the compact car segment, which includes the likes of the Swift, Dzire and Baleno, went up by a considerable 10.8 percent. This could be an indication that Maruti customers, who previously chose the cars like the Alto and WagonR are now opting for cars in the higher segment.

However, this was not the case with the company’s mid-size sedan Ciaz, which despite receiving a facelift a few months ago, continues to see a decline in monthly sales. The company sold only 3,838 units of the Ciaz last month, compared to 4,009 units sold in November 2017, registering a drop of 4.3 percent.

The company’s utility vehicle space, which includes the likes of the Vitara Brezza, Ertiga, S-Cross and Gypsy, saw a decent 1.2 percent growth in November 2018, while sales of the company’s vans, which include the Omni and Eeco, also grew by 3.6 percent. In retrospect, Maruti Suzuki India’s light commercial vehicle Super Carry saw a massive triple-digit growth of 112.2 percent with 2,128 units, compared to 1,003 units.