Maruti, Hyundai see wholesale decline in March; Tata Motors and Kia report a jump in sales

The country’s largest automaker, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), said its domestic deliveries fell 7% in March to 1,43,899 units from 1,55,417 units in the same period last year.

For the full fiscal year 2021-22, the company recorded total sales of 16,52,653 units, a 13% growth over 2020-21.

Maruti said in a statement that the shortage of electronic components impacted production of the vehicles in FY22. “As the supply situation of electronic components remains unpredictable, it could also impact the production volume in fiscal 2022-23,” the company added.

Maruti Suzuki’s cars like ALto and S-Presso fell to 15,491 units from 24,653 in the same month last year. The company had delivered 64,621 units to its dealers in March 2021.

Likewise, sales in the compact segment, including models such as the Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire, increased slightly to 82,314 units compared to 82,201 cars in March 2021.

Sales of commercial vehicles, including the Vitara Brezza, S-Cross and Ertiga, fell to 25,001 units from 26,174 vehicles in the same month last year, MSI said.

Rival Hyundai Motor India said its total sales fell 14% to 55,287 units in March compared to the same month last year. The company had delivered 64,621 units to its dealers in March 2021.

While Tata Motors said its March car sales were the highest ever in a month. The company reported wholesale sales of 42,293 units last month, up 43% from 29,654 units in March 2021.

“We’ve seen our highest-ever annual, quarterly and monthly sales, supported by strong demand for our New Forever range and agile supply-side actions,” Shailesh Chandra, managing director of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, said in a statement.

Automaker Kia also said it reported its best-ever monthly sales in March, with 22,622 units. The company said its wholesale sales rose 18% to 22,622 units last month compared to the same month last year.

Similarly, Skoda Auto reported a five-fold increase in its sales in March, with 5,608 units compared to 1,159 units in the same month last year.

This is the highest sales volume the automaker has ever achieved in a month in its two-decade history in India, Skoda Auto said.

The company’s previous monthly high was in June 2012 with 4,923 units shipped.

Mahindra also saw an increase in wholesale passenger car numbers. PV shipments rose 65% in the domestic market last month to 27,603 units versus 16,700 units in March 2021.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) reported total sales of 17,131 units in March, its best monthly sales in five years.

MG Motor India reported a 14.5% fall in retail sales to 4,721 units in March, hit by supply chain constraints from the Omicron variant and ongoing global semiconductor chip shortages. The company had retailed 5,528 units as of March last year.

Nissan India reported a 25% drop in domestic wholesale sales to 3,007 units in March. The company had registered 4,012 units in domestic wholesale as of March 2021.