Auto Sales In September 2020: Tata Motors Sales Rise 37%, Hero MotoCorp’s Up 17%

Total domestic sales of Tata Motors Ltd. rose 37% year-on-year to 44,444 units in September 2020, according to an exchange filing Thursday. The automaker had sold 32,376 units in the year-ago period. The figures include sales of passenger as well as commercial vehicles.

• Commercial vehicle sales fell 11% from the year ago to 24,910 units.
• Passenger vehicle sales rose 163% year-on-year to 21,199 units.

On quarterly basis, Tata Motors sales rose 112% year-on-year to 54,794 units in April-September 2020 period.

Total sales of Hero MotoCorp Ltd. rose 16.9% year-on-year to 7,15,718 units in September 2020—the highest monthly sales in the ongoing calendar year, according to an exchange filing Thursday.

India's largest two-wheeler maker had sold 6,12,204 units in the year-ago period.

• Motorcycle sales rose 18.3% year-on-year to 6,60,948 units.
• Scooter sales rose 2.35% year-on-year to 54,770 units.
• Domestic sales rose 16.11% year-on-year to 6,00,509 units.
• Exports rose 57.54% year-on-year to 18,425 units.

The company is now operating at nearly 100% production capacity with almost all customer touchpoints open.

Kia Motors India recorded its highest monthly sales in September 2020, on the back of bumper demand for its latest offering—the Kia Sonet Compact SUV. Total sales of the South Korean carmaker's Indian arm rose 147% year-on-year to 18,676 units.

The Sonet, which was launched on Sept. 18, accounted for 9,226 of those. Kia in fact claims that the compact SUV is already the bestseller in its category. The Seltos, Kia’s first product for the Indian market, continued its strong performance, with 9,079 units sold.

“We have been constantly elevating our production capacity to meet pre-covid level of operations, and till now, have been successful in doing this too," Kookhyun Shim, managing director and chief executive officer at Kia Motors India, said in a statement. "This not only allows us to contribute to the revival of the Indian auto industry but also helps us bring notable growth for our business and bring down the waiting period of our vehicles.”

Kia Motors is now looking to export from India and has identified over 70 markets for the same. It’s targeting pushing 50,000 units overseas within the next 12 months.

Total sales of Hyundai Motor India Pvt. Ltd. rose 3.8% year-on-year to 59,913 units, according to a statement on Thursday. Wholesale shipments by the Indian arm of the South Korean carmaker stood at 57,705 units in the year-ago period.

• Domestic sales rose 23.6% year-on-year to 50,313 units.
• Exports fell 43.5% from a year ago to 9,600 units.

“The green shoots of recovery are clearly visible with sales improving on month-on-month as well as year-on-year basis,” Tarun Garg, director of sales, marketing and service at Hyundai Motor India, said in the statement. “We are confident that the coming festive season will drive the market on a steady recovery path with positive customer sentiments.”

Total sales of VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd. fell 7.3% year-on-year to 3,506 units in September 2020, parent Eicher Motors Ltd. said in an exchange filing on Thursday.

The commercial-vehicle maker had sold 3,784 units in the year-ago period.

• Domestic sales fell 6.4% year-on-year to 2,940 units.
• Exports of Eicher's trucks and buses fell 4.3% to 510 units.
• Exports of Volvo trucks fell 49.5% year-on-year to 56 units.

On Thursday, Eicher Motors’ shares fell 0.19% to Rs 2,196.60 apiece on the BSE even as the benchmark Sensex ended the day 1.65% higher at 38,697.05 points.