Auto Sales In September 2020: Sonet Powers Kia Motors To Highest Ever Monthly Sales

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.

Total sales of Ashok Leyland Ltd. fell 5% year-on-year to 8,344 units in September 2020, according to an exchange filing on Thursday. The truck maker had sold 8,780 units in the year-ago period.

• India sales were flat at 7,847 units compared to a year ago.
• Exports fell 46% year-on-year to 497 units.

And while overall truck sales declined 1% year-on-year in September, the company sold 76% fewer buses in the month gone by. Light commercial vehicles were the outlier, though, as their sales rose 17% year-on-year to 4,702 units.

Sales of Toyota Kirloskar Motor India Pvt. Ltd. fell 20.45% year-on-year to 8,116 units in September 2020, according to a statement on Thursday. The automaker, however, said its wholesales grew 46% as compared to August, when it had sold 5,555 units.

"We are seeing demand pick up and a lot more confidence in our dealers, thereby witnessing 14-18% growth in orders when compared to the last few months," Naveen Soni, vice president (sales and service) at Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said in the statement. “September was our best month so far, ever since the pandemic hit us in March 2020.”

Toyota has restarted in two shifts manufacturing at its factories, Soni said.

Going foward, Toyota expects its Urban Cruiser compact SUV, based on Maruti Suzuki’s Vitara Brezza, to drive its festive season sales. “We have got a very good response from our customers and the market, ever since we opened the bookings for Urban Cruiser,” Soni said.