Automobile sales figures for the month of February 2020 threw up some interesting turns with Kia Motors, the sister unit of South Korean giant Hyundai, moving up the charts as the third largest seller of cars in the Indian market. Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai are the first and second respectively. Kia Motors is one of the latest entrants in the market and sells only two models, the Kia Seltos and Kia Carnival. The former is positioned as a SUV, while the latter is called an MPV.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has slid to the fifth position, mainly due to short-supply of components from China following the coronavirus scare. M&M usually has a much higher market share than the 4.36% it recorded in February. The company says the transitioning to BS-VI emission norms is another reason the company had cut down on its production and therefore the sales figures have been down.
In terms of sheer numbers, M&M sold 19,555 units in January 2020 and only 10,938 units in February 2020, a fall of 44%.
Most of the companies are keen on liquidating the inventory of BS-IV vehicles with their dealer networks before sending in the BS-VI vehicles. This is another reason for the drop in sales.
This unexpected disruption in supply of parts and components from China due to the coronavirus crisis has definitely upset many plans.
The comparison of M&M with Kia is being made since the South Korean company has just two models in its catalogue, compared to a whole range being sold by the Indian auto major.
The Chinese car company MG Motor also saw its sales badly hit last month selling just 1,376 cars, down 56% from the 3,130 it managed to sell in January 2020.
Another significant comparison from the sales chart of different carmakers in India is between Renault India and Honda Cars India. Just to speak of the numbers, Renault India managed to sell 8,784 cars last month while Honda could sell only 7,200. Honda has been around for a very long time in the market and has models in most segments.