Car sales shift up gear on festival demand

Maruti logs record retail sales in Oct, says industry may see 20% uptick

- SHINE JACOB

Driven by demand for sports utility vehicles (SUVs), some of India's leading carmakers witnessed a bumper Diwali on both retail and wholesale fronts in an otherwise restrained year for customer pickups. In the two-wheeler space, too, initial wholesale numbers pointed to a surge.

Monthly retail sales by Maruti Suzuki India, the country's foremost passenger vehicle player, in October surged 22.4 per cent year-on-year to a record 202,402 units, even as it tuned down domestic wholesales dispatches in view of relatively high inventory levels. It further estimated a 20 per cent jump in retail sales for the car-making industry in October, fuelled by festival season demand.

In wholesale terms, the passenger vehicle sector recorded a modest 1.8 per cent increase from the previous year, to a total of 401,447 units, as several carmakers intentionally scaled back production to keep inventories in check. Maruti's own wholesale dispatches fell 5 per cent to 159,591 units, while Tata Motors' dispatches to dealers were down 0.4 per cent at 48,131 units.

The country's second-largest car-maker Hyundai Motor India and Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), on the other hand, witnessed strong wholesale monthly dispatches of SUVs in October. This was the case for Maruti, too, as it posted a 19.4 per cent rise in SUV wholesales.