SUVs steer festive season sales
The festival season brought cheers to passenger vehicle makers having a wide range of SUVs and MPVs in their portfolio, as they experienced strong sales momentum in the category. This is evident from auto wholesales or dispatches to dealerships from the factory floor in October.
For example, although Maruti Suzuki witnessed an overall decline of 5 per cent in YoY sales in October, however, in utility vehicles segment it registered an increase of over 21 per cent in October.
The carmaker sold 1,59,591 units in the domestic market last month in comparison to 1,68,047 units in October 2023. However, Maruti Suzuki’s utility vehicle segment showed strong growth in October, with total sales reaching 70,644 units, compared to 59,147 units in the same month last year. This significant increase reflects the rising popularity of models such as the Brezza, Ertiga, Fronx and Grand Vitara. On the contrary, the mini and compact segment witnessed a significant decline of 19.5 per cent in sales.
Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL), registered total domestic sales of 55,568 units in October, registering a growth of 0.8 per cent. Commenting on HMIL sales, Tarun Garg, Whole-time Director and Chief Operating Officer, HMIL said, “We witnessed a strong demand for our SUV portfolio during the festive period, leading to our highest-ever monthly SUV sales at 37,902 units, including highest ever monthly domestic sales of the Hyundai Creta at 17,497 units. SUVs remain a cornerstone of our lineup, representing an impressive 68.2 per cent of our total monthly sales in October.”
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M Ltd), said that in the utility vehicles segment, it sold 54,504 vehicles in the domestic market, a growth of 25 per cent. Veejay Nakra, president, Automotive Division, M&M Ltd, said, “We are excited to have clocked the highest-ever SUV sales of 54,504 vehicles in October, a growth of 25 per cent.”
As far Tata Motors is concerned, the total passenger vehicle (PV) sales, including electric vehicles, experienced a minor dip, falling to 48,131 units from 48,337 units the previous year.
