Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) on Sunday said it recorded its highest-ever monthly domestic sales in October at 56,605 units amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It reported a 13.2% growth in its domestic sales compared to 50,010 units sold during October 2019, the company said in a statement. The rise in demand comes on the back of the festive season.
Its exports, however, fell by 10.1% to 12,230 units in October. Its sales stood at 68,835 units, 8.2% higher on a year-on-year basis.
On the sales performance in October, Tarun Garg, Director (Sales, Marketing and Service), HMIL, said,"With the advent of the festive season, Hyundai shares the spirit of happiness and celebration with our customers through our super performer brands -- the all new CRETA, VERNA, VENUE, AURA and NIOS, achieving landmark sales of 56,605 units in October 2020 with a growth of 13.2 per cent compared to October 2019." He noted that the October sales performance set a positive tone for overall business environment.
The country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India on Sunday reported 18.9% growth in its total sales for the month of October. The company sold 1,82,448 units of vehicles last month, against 1,53,435 units sold in October 2019, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Domestic sales of the company, including sales to other original equipment manufacturers (OEM) stood at 1,72,862 units, 19.8% higher on a year-on-year basis.
Maruti Suzuki sold 1,63,656 passenger vehicles in the country in October, 17.6% higher. Although cars in the mini segment, which includes Alto and S-Presso, witnessed a 0.3% dip in sales at 28,462 units, the sales in the compact segment rose 26.6% to 95,067 units.
Maruti's compact segment includes the models -- WagonR, Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno, Dzire and Tour S. The sale of its light commercial vehicle Super Carry also grew 30.5% to 3,169 units last month.
The company's exports also improved in October. It sold 9,586 units of vehicles overseas, higher by 4.7% on a year-on-year basis.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor has reported a 1.87% year-on-year (YoY) fall in its overall sales in October at 12,373 units. During the same period last year, the company had sold 12,610 units.
The company had sold a total of 11,866 units in the domestic market in October 2019 and had exported 744 units of the Etios as well, the company said in a statement.
However, on a month-on-month basis, its sales clocked a growth of 52%. In September 2020, the company had sold 8,116 units.
Naveen Soni, Senior Vice President, Sales & Service, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said: "The month of October has been our best month so far since March 2020. The festive season has proved to be bullish as we witness demand surging, month on month. This has been true of our retails too as order flow has been smooth, from the very beginning."
"The month of October marks an important milestone for us as we began deliveries of the recently launched Urban Cruiser to our customers across the country. Urban Cruiser has made a very promising start and we are hopeful that with the Urban Cruiser, we will be able to cater to the dynamic needs of our customers in that particular segment," he added.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Sunday reported a 14.5% fall in its overall sales in October at 44,359 vehicles. The company had sold 51,896 units in October last year.
The passenger vehicle segment of the company which includes utility vehicles, cars and vans recorded a 1% growth in sales at 18,622 vehicles last month, M&M said in a statement.
Its utility vehicle segment, however, witnessed a 3% growth at 18,317 units in October 2020, compared to 17,785 vehicles in October 2019.
Commenting on the passenger vehicles performance, Veejay Nakra, Chief Executive Officer, Automotive Division, M&M Ltd said: "We are happy to achieve a growth of 3 per cent in utility vehicles, despite certain supply constraints. Our brands Scorpio, Bolero and XUV 300 continue to do well, while the bookings for the All-New Thar have set new records within just a month of its launch."
He noted that for Mahindra, the festive season has started on a positive note with deliveries and bookings being higher than last year.
"Going forward, this augurs well for a robust festive demand which in turn will help the industry in the short term," Nakra said.
MG Motor India registered a 6% rise in its monthly sales in October to 3,750 units. The carmaker sold a record 3,625 units of its flagship MG Hector SUV during the month. MG SZ SUV, which is the electric version, sold 125 units in October. The company’s latest offering MG Gloster has received a good response with over 2,000 bookings, it said in a statement. “We expect continued traction because of Diwali in November and are ramping up supplies to cater to the increasing demand,” said Rakesh Sidana, Sales Director at MG Motor India.