Auto Sales Live: Ashok Leyland Sales Rise 17% In October; Maruti Suzuki Remains Flat

Ashok Leyland Ltd.’s sales rose 17 percent on a yearly basis to 15,149 units last month, according to its stock exchange notification.

Key sales highlights (YoY):

• Sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicles up 7 percent at 9,797 units.
• Sales of light commercial vehicles up 41 percent at 5,352 units.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. sold 1.46 lakh units in October, a little changed from the year-ago month.

October sales highlights (YoY):

• Sales in mini segment vehicles rose 1.1 percent to 32,835 units.
• Sales in compact segment rose 3.7 percent to 64,789 units.
• Sales in utility vehicles segment fell 11.2 percent to 20,764 units.
• Sales in vans segment rose 7.9 percent to 13,668 units.
• Overall domestic sales rose 1.5 percent to 1.38 lakh units.
• Overall exports fell 17 percent to 8,666 units.

The tractor maker sold 13,140 units last month, an increase of 28.8 percent from same period year-ago, according to its stock exchange filing.

Key sales highlights (YoY):

• Domestic sales up 28.7 percent at 12,867 units.
• Exports up 33.8 percent at 273 units.

A slow start to the festive season, higher upfront insurance costs and fuel prices are likely to slow down auto sales in October, according to a BloombergQuint poll of analysts.

“Our dealer checks indicate that the start to the festive season has been slow, especially for passenger vehicles and two-wheelers, as sentiment has been affected due to higher fuel prices, interest rates and insurance costs,” said Nomura Auto Analyst Kapil Singh in his monthly estimate note.

The Japanese brokerage expects the sales of passenger vehicles and two-wheelers sales to grow by 4 percent and 11 percent, respectively, in October.

Motilal Oswal, too, expects a slow start to auto sales and said that southern markets like Kerala are witnessing a gradual recovery after the floods which will add numbers to the monthly auto sales. “Dealer checks indicates only a marginal improvement in demand momentum, leading to high inventory levels,” said Jinesh Gandhi, research analyst at the brokerage.