Despite Diwali, Dussehra discounts, car sales fail to sparkle during festive month of October

Key highlights:

• With the exception of Maruti Suzuki, all other car manufacturers reported poor sales in October
• Domestic car sales of Maruti Suzuki were up by 9.9% during the month
• Ford India reported a 31.8% decline in total sales

The festive season of October was a poor period for most automobile companies, as with the exception of Maruti Suzuki, all other car manufacturers reported poor sales during the month. October had two of the top festivals, ie Dussehra and Diwali, falling during the month, but this year the impact of GST and demonetisation seems to still have its impact on consumer spending.

Top car manufacturer in India, Maruti Suzuki, was the only one to report a near double-digit growth during the month. Domestic car sales were up by 9.9% during the month as it sold 1,36,000 units during the month of October 2017 from 1,23,764 units during the same month last year.

It's total sales was up 9.5% at 1,46,446 units in October as against 1,33,793 in the year-ago month.

The auto major further said sales of the compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Dzire and Baleno jumped by 24.7% to 62,480 units last month as against 50,116 in the year-earlier month.

Sales of mid-sized sedan Ciaz came down by 35.4% to 4,107 units during the month.

Sales of utility vehicles, including Gypsy, Grand Vitara, Ertiga, S-Cross and compact SUV Vitara Brezza increased by 29.8% to 23,382 units in October, from 18,008 in the same month of 2016.
Vans -- Omni and Eeco -- saw a marginal decline in sales to 12,669 units last month as against 12,790 units in the year-ago period.

But other car companies either reported a decline in sales or a marginal growth during the month.

Hyundai Motor India reported a marginal decline in domestic sales at 49,588 units in October. The company had sold 50,017 units in October 2016, HMIL said in a statement.

Hyundai Motor India, Director, Sales and Marketing, Rakesh Srivastava said the company's October sales were driven by its popular models such as Grand i10, Elite i20 and Creta.

Ford India reported a 31.8% decline in total sales at 15,033 units in October this year. The company had sold 22,043 units in the same month last year, Ford India said in a statement.

Domestic sales were down 43.82% at 4,218 units last month as against 7,508 in October last year, it said.

On the sales performance, Ford India President and Managing Director Anurag Mehrotra said, "The ramp-up for new model introduction has impacted our wholesale for October. We are excited to have the all-new Ford EcoSport be on the side of Indian customers very soon."

The updated new EcoSport will be launched on November 9.

Tata Motors' sales of passenger vehicles in the domestic market grew by just 1% year on year to 16,475 units last month.

Mahindra and Mahindra reported 1.65% decline in total sales at 51,149 units in October. It had sold 52,008 units in the same month last year, M&M said in a statement.
In the domestic market, its sales grew marginally to 48,818 units last month compared to 48,729 in October 2016.

Sales of passenger vehicles, including Scorpio, XUV500, Xylo, Bolero and Verito, dipped by 5.35 per cent at 23,413 units compared to 24,737 units in the same month last year.

M&M President Automotive Sector Rajan Wadhera said: "The auto industry has had a mixed month. The build up to Dhanteras and Diwali was good but the demand tapered off subsequently."

Last year all festivals were in October and the industry volumes had a high base, he added.

"This year, September and October combined, we have grown by 7.9 per cent in auto division. Going forward we enter into a year-end period of lower sales," Wadhera said.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) reported a 6.45% rise in domestic sales at 12,403 units in October. The company had sold a total of 11,651 units in the same month last year, TKM said in a statement.

TKM exported 1,597 units of the Etios series in October 2017 compared to 974 in the same month last year, a jump of 63.96%.

On the sales performance, TKM Director and Senior Vice- President - Sales and Marketing N Raja said, "We are happy that the festive season has given a positive push to the domestic sales in the auto industry. There is a spur in the customer demand."

He also said the company's Camry Hybrid has seen slight improvement in customer demand with no change in price, post cess hike.

"The flagship model will continue to be a significant part of the Toyota product line-up. We believe customers will understand and appreciate the benefits of clean and green- friendly HV (Hybrid Vehicle) technology," he said.

(With inputs from PTI)