Auto Sales Numbers Flatter for July 2021

After a rather tepid June month due to COVID 2.0 lag effect, the sales of automobiles picked up sharply in July. With auto factories and showrooms functioning at near-normal capacity, the bounce was on the cards. Let us look at two major listed PV manufactures and then look at Escorts as representative of the tractor segment.

Maruti Suzuki, the undisputed leader in domestic auto volumes, saw sales in July grow by 10.2% on a sequential basis to 162,462 units. This included exports of 21,224 units in the month. Demand growth was led by the utility segment. The mini / compact segment saw sales lower by 8.2% at 89,953 units while utility vehicles sales rose 26.6% to 32,272 units.

The Tata Motors domestic business (excluding JLR) saw robust performance in the passenger vehicle (PV) segment. On a sequential basis, Tata Motors saw 25% growth in sales numbers at 30,185 units as demand recovered with the phased lifting of restrictions. Overall domestic sales of Tata Motors (including CVs and LCVs) were up 19% sequentially at 51,981 units with the CV segment also growing by 8% over June.

However, the delayed monsoons across India appeared to have dented tractor sales in the month of July. Escorts reported 47.6% sequential fall in tractor sales to 6,564 units due to the delayed monsoons impacting the Kharif season rather intensely. However, with the monsoons showing signs of normalizing, that should be addressed. All auto companies admitted that the spike in commodity inflation had put pressure on their margins in the auto business.

Among unlisted players, the second-largest player in the PV segment, Hyundai India, also showed smart growth led by the Creta and the newly launched Alcazar.