April Auto Sales Live: Maruti Suzuki Sales Fall 17%

The company sold 1.43 lakh units last month, a decline of 17.2 percent from the year-ago period, India’s largest carmaker said in an exchange filing.

Key Sales highlights (YoY)

• Sales of mini segment fell 39.8 percent to 22,766 units.
• Sales of compact segment fell 13.9 percent to 72,146 units.
• Sales of Ciaz fell 45.5 percent to 2,789 units.
• Sales of utility vehicles rose 5.9 percent to 22,035 units.
• Sales of vans fell 26.7 percent to 11,649 units.
• Sales of Super Carry rose 50.2 percent to 2,319 units.
• Sales to original equipment manufacturers stood at 364 units.
• Total domestic passenger vehicle sales fell 19.6 percent to 1.31 lakh units.
• Total domestic sales* declined 18.7 percent to 1.34 lakh units.
• Total exports rose 14.6 percent to 9,177 units.

The sales of new WagonR are reported under compact segment and the the sales number of old discontinued WagonR are however, reported in the mini sub-segment effective February 2019, the company said.
* Effective April 2019, sales to other OEMs have commenced and are reported as ‘Sales to other OEM’. Total domestic sales and total sales includes this figure.

Auto sales are expected to decline in the seasonally strong April due to multiple factors including tepid demand, according to a BloombergQuint survey of seven dealers across India. (read more here)

“Sales have seen a pickup over the last month but continue to lag on a year-on-year basis,” said Nikunj Sanghi, managing director at JS Fourwheel Motors Pvt. Ltd.

Nomura, too, expects a sharp decline in April sales for auto companies largely due to pressure on growth due to higher inventory levels, a higher base last year and weak demand sentiment.