Indian auto sales dip by 22pc in April

Auto sales in India stood at around 1.69mn units in April, down 22pc from the prior month. Last year, in April, many automakers sold zero to a few units owing to a complete lockdown due to which automakers have a 100pc or higher rise in sales this month when compared to the prior year.

Owing to the low base in April 2020, we have compared April 2021 sales with that of March 2021. There is a month-on-month (MoM) decrease as COVID-19 cases spiked leading to lockdown and curfews. Only essential services, shops are allowed to operating while auto dealerships were forced to shut down. This led to a fall in sales. Several manufacturers have decided to scale down production following a drop in sales and demand.

Maruti Suzuki with the highest market share in April for the passenger cars segment, sold 159,691 units, down 4pc from the prior month. In April last year, the company sold just 632 units. Compared to April 2019, sales is up 11.48pc in April 2021.

Honda Cars India’s sales rose 28pc in April compared to the prior month owing to attractive discounts the company offers in the previous month. The company sold 9,072 units. Kia Motors India on the other hand sold 16,111 units in April, witnessing a drop of 16pc from March. Hyundai Motor India’s sales were higher by 13pc in April with 59,203 vehicles sold in this challenging month as against March.

The heavy vehicle segment suffered a significant drop in sales in April. Eicher Motors reported a decline of 70pc at 2,145 sold units compared to March. Tata Motor’s heavy vehicle segment witnessed a drop of 55pc after 4942 units were sold in April from a month ago.

The farm segment also took a hit in April. Escorts’ sales fell 43pc in April, compared to the previous month largely owing to the lockdown situation, said the company. The company did not face as many supply-side issues compared to 2020 which has enabled them to build inventory in expectation of pent-up demand on recovery from the pandemic. Mahindra & Mahindra’s farm segment sales fell less sharply compared to Escorts. M&M sold 27.523 units, down 11pc from March. The company shared similar sentiments with Escorts except that M&M mentions supply chain disruptions due to lockdown which is impacting demand momentum.

Mahindra & Mahindra’s passenger vehicle segment grew 9.5pc in April from March levels. Production challenges will continue in May said the company. Demand remains good but in Q1, owing to lockdown and low customer movement and shut dealerships would result in a challenging quarter.

Two-wheeler sales also fell in April. Honda two-wheelers, TVS and Hero MotoCorp reported a decline of 31pc, 26pc and 35pc, respectively, from March vehicle sales.