Mixed Signals For 4-Wheeler Sales In April 2017

The Indian Auto sector (4-wheelers) went through a turbulent time a few months ago with the likes of Demonitisation hitting a few manufacturers hard. With most companies on an upward trend in terms of sales though, the last few months have been showcasing good overall growth. April 2017 though has been a month of mixed signals from different manufacturers. While some showcased exponential dual digit growth, other manufacturers have showcased a slight slowdown. April conventionally has been a slower month for auto makers after the year end boom in March, which this year was also supplemented by huge discounts on older BS 3 products because of the BS 4 implementation from April 1.
   
India’s largest automaker, Maruti Suzuki registered a total sales of 1,51,215 units in the month of April 2017. This included domestic sales of 1,44,492 units and export sales of 6723 units. As compared to April 2016, year on year sales for the carmaker were up by 23.4 per cent in the domestic sector. Exports though were down by 29.4 per cent as compared to April 2016. Compared to the previous month of March 2017 (1,27,999 units) though, domestic sales were up 12.88 per cent while exports compared to March 2017 (11,764 units) were down by 42 per cent. The overall growth for Maruti Suzuki can be attributed by the likes of their bread and butter Alto and Wagon R seeing a resurgence in terms of sales. The new factory in Gujarat, which currently churns out over 10,000 units of the Maruti Suzuki Baleno every month, in turn lowering waiting periods, also added to the increase in sales of the Baleno which added to the growth. The Maruti Suzuki Ciaz that was recently moved to the Nexa sales channel also added to the growth. Read the detailed report here.
   
India’s second largest automaker, Hyundai showcased growth of 3.57 per cent with sales of 56,368 units in April 2017 as compared to 54,420 units in April 2016. As compared to March 2017 (55,614 units), Hyundai India registered a growth of only 1.35 per cent. In fact, the increase in domestic sales between April and March is just 1 unit with the percentage growth being driven by exports. Hyundai launched the updated and face lifted Xcent sub 4-meter subcompact sedan in India in the second half of April.
 
Nissan and Datsun combined were down by a whopping 20.5 per cent in April 2017 (4217 units) as compared to March 2017 (5309 units). Year on year sales though were up by 39.2 per cent as compared to April 2016 (3028 units). The sales drop was despite the Redi-Go consistently putting up a good show on the sales chart and the launch of the updated Nissan Terrano SUV, which was launched in the first week of April 2017.
  Similarly, Toyota India registered a marginal drop in sales or 2.61 per cent in April 2017 (14055 units) as compared to March 2017 (14432 units). April 2017 sales for Toyota included domestic sales of 12,946 units and export sales of 1109 units. The drop in percentage as compared to March was due to a lower domestic sales number despite exports of the Etios being higher. Year on year growth though was up by a huge 47.83 per cent as compared to April 2016 (9507 units). The increase in sales can be attributed to the new Innova and the new Fortuner, both of which have been selling like hot cakes in their respective segments. The recently updated Toyota Corolla will help Toyota India improve their sales figures in the months to come.
  Tata Motors saw a year on year growth of 22.22 per cent from April 2017 (12,827 units) as compared to April 2016 (10,495 units). But, as with Toyota and Nissan, Tata Motors too saw a drop of 16.88 per cent when compared to sales figures from March 2017 (15,433 units). The drop in sales was despite a good market response for the newly launched Tata Tigor sub-compact sub 4-meter sedan.
 
Similarly, Honda Cars India Limited saw a whopping 42 per cent growth of sales between April 2017 (14,922 units) as compared to April 2016 (10,484 units) on account of the new Honda City and the new Honda WR-V both showing brisk sales. But just like almost every other automaker, Honda too saw a drop of 21.85 per cent as compared to sales in March 2017 (19,095 units).