Maruti sales drop 33% in Aug as slowdown rages on

Domestic vehicle sales continued to slide in August as most of the manufacturers reported massive drops in demand for their products.

Country's largest carmaker by market share Maruti Suzuki India reported a 32.7 % year-on-year decline in sales at 1,06,413 units in August. Its domestic sales declined 34.3% at 97,061 units last month. Sales of mini cars comprising Alto and WagonR stood at 10,123 units, down 71.8%. Sales in the compact segment that includes models such as Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire fell 23.9% to 54,274 units. Mid-sized sedan Ciaz sold 1,596 units as compared to 7,002 units earlier. However, sales of utility vehicles, including Vitara Brezza, S-Cross and Ertiga, rose 3.1% to 18,522 units.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) reported a 25? fall in sales to 36,085 units in August.

In the passenger vehicle (PV) segment, Mahindra sold 13,507 vehicles in August 2019 compared to 19,758 vehicles in August 2018. In the commercial vehicle segment, it sold 14,684 vehicles in August 2019, as against 20,326 vehicles in August 2018. Veejay Ram Nakra, Sales and Marketing Head, Automotive Division, M&M, said the industry continues to be subdued in August due to several external factors. "We are optimistic and hopeful of a good festive season going ahead," said Nakra.

Hyundai Motors India (HMI), the second-largest carmaker, reported a 16.5% drop in domestic sales 38,205 units in August.

Vikas Jain, National Sales Head at HMI said, "We expect the coming festive season will be a turnaround period in the market with positive customer sentiments."

Tata Motors reported a 49% slide as it sold 29,140 units during August as compared to 57,210 units during the corresponding period last year. Girish Wagh, President, Commercial Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors said, "Subdued demand sentiment due to poor freight availability, lower freight rates and the general slowdown in the economy continued to hamper the commercial vehicle demand. System stock reduction through retail focus and aligning production will continue to be our approach while cautiously monitoring the market in these challenging times. As a result, retail sales are estimated to be ahead of wholesale by over 25% in August. We are looking forward to a positive impact of the recently announced stimulus package by the government."

Mayank Pareek, President, Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors, "Under the challenging market situation, we continued to focus on improving retail sales. Our retail sales were 42% more than offtake and as a result, the network stock came down by over 3,000 vehicles. This prepares dealers well for the festival season. Our prime focus remains on the working capital rotation of the channel. Our aim is to improve the retail capability, till August 2019, 72 new sales outlets were added and 3500+ sales executives were recruited."

VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd, a Volvo Group and Eicher Motors joint venture, sold 3,538 units in August 2019 as compared to 6,069 units a year ago, recording decline of 41.7%.