October surge in car sales; Maruti, Mahindra, Kia and Toyota top the rankings

Owing to the festive season and increased consumer demand driven by deep discounts in a sluggish market, passenger vehicle (PV) makers have reported strong sales in October 2024. Experts noted that retail sales significantly outpaced wholesale sales this month as automakers held back production to cope. high dealer inventories.

Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), the country’s largest automaker, reported record high wholesale sales of 206,434 units for October 2024, its highest ever monthly volume. This total includes 163,130 domestic sales, 10,136 units sold to other OEMs, and a record 33,168 export units.

While MSIL’s domestic wholesale PV sales reached 159,591 units, 5% lower than 168,047 units in October last year, retail sales data on the government Vahan dashboard showed that last month across India (excluding Telangana) had over 196,000 units registered. The company on Tuesday said retail sales during the festive period (end of Shradh to Diwali) grew by 14 percent.

Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) recorded total wholesale sales of 70,078 units, including 55,568 units in the domestic market (up 1 percent year-on-year) and 14,510 units in exports (up 7 percent). October marked Hyundai’s third-highest domestic and total monthly sales since its entry into the Indian market. Vahan data showed Hyundai’s retail sales for the month stood at around 66,000 units.

Tarun Garg, Whole Time Director and COO, HMIL, commented, “We witnessed strong demand for our SUV range during the festive period, resulting in our highest ever monthly SUV sales of 37,902 units, including record sales of Hyundai CRETA. at 17,497 units.”

Tata Motors recorded stable domestic PV wholesale sales year-on-year at 48,131 units in October 2024 compared to 48,337 units in October 2023. However, sales of its electric vehicles fell 2 percent year-on-year to 5,355 units.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) continued to shine, selling 54,504 units in the domestic market, up 25 percent year-on-year, with total sales, including exports, reaching 55,571 units. Vijay Nakra, President, Automotive Division, M&M, said, “The month started with a bang with the Thar ROXX receiving 1.7 lakh bookings in the first 60 minutes and this momentum continued across our SUV portfolio throughout the festive season.”

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) also performed well, reporting a 41 percent year-on-year increase in sales with 30,845 units sold in October 2024. 28,138 units were sold domestically and 2,707 units exported. Retail sales of TKM, according to Vagan, amounted to 27,423 units. Kia India also reported an increase in sales. In October 2024, the Korean brand retailed 28,545 units (excluding Telangana), up 30 percent year-on-year compared to 21,941 units shipped in October 2023.