Car sales May 2022: most manufacturers see spike in sales

A year after car sales were impacted by the second wave of Covid-19-induced lockdowns, carmakers in India recorded good sales numbers for the month of May 2022 on a year-on-year basis. Moreover, most carmakers also improved upon their sales in April 2022, which is cause for cheer. In terms of market share, the top three carmakers are inching towards pre-COVID-19 levels.

Most companies, however, are still having to deal with semiconductor shortages, and are working on strategies to generate alternate sources as well as focus on models for which chip availability is more manageable. Apart from the chip crisis, manufacturing costs will be a key factor and it remains to be seen if carmakers will consider another round of hikes in the course of the year.

A good monsoon, as predicted by the Met office, will come as manna from heaven and help assuage the situation as it helps rural demand, which then translates into better sales. The rural sector took a beating last year as a result of the pandemic and the effects of job losses continued to impact buying sentiments for the rest of the fiscal.

May brought some visible relief for motorists with the government lowering excise duties on fuels, however, higher insurance premia rates are bound to dampen buyer sentiments.

With the Ukraine war raging on, and the unpredictability of supply chain snarls, there are some very real headwinds to contend with. As Rajesh Jejurikar, executive director, Auto and Farm, Mahindra & Mahindra, summed it up at a media interaction last week, “There will be uncertainty in FY 2023.”

Maruti’s May sales inch ahead of April

Maruti Suzuki India sold 1,24,474 vehicles in the domestic market in May 2022; it's April sales stood at 1,21,995 units. The company’s sales were about 10,000-odd less than its May 2019 sales of 1,34,641 units.

The market leader posted total sales of 1,61,413 units in May 2022, which includes sales of 6,222 units to other OEMs (Toyota’s badge-engineered Glanza and Urban Cruiser), and its highest ever monthly exports of 27,191 units.

The company said the shortage of electronic components had a minor impact on production, mainly those sold in domestic models. Maruti Suzuki said it has taken all possible measures to minimise the impact and added that the May 2022 tally was not comparable with May 2021 as operations were affected by the second COVID-19 wave.

Maruti Suzuki recently launched the updated XL6, while the other products planned in the near future include an updated Brezza, followed by the five-door off-roader Jimny. Also in the works is a midsize SUV, in collaboration with Toyota, to rival the Kia Seltos and Hyundai Creta.

Tata EVs cross 3,000-mark

Tata Motors continues its steady growth in sales and clocked a two-fold increase in its May sales. The carmaker retailed 43,341 vehicles in May compared to 15,181 units in May 2021. The May numbers were an increase of just over 2,000 units as compared to April’s 41,587 units. May’s sales included 39,887 units of conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) cars and 3,454 electric cars. The sales of electric cars have seen considerable bump up on a year-on-year basis, jumping six times from 476 vehicles sold in May last year. Tata had overtaken Hyundai in monthly sales previously and the Nexon is the second highest seller.

Hyundai sales cross 50,000

Hyundai Motor India’s May sales, including exports, crossed the 50,000-mark, with domestic numbers accounting for 42,293 units. The Korean carmaker’s export numbers of around 9,000 units was 57 percent more than that during the same period last year. Both HMIL plants in Chennai observed the scheduled biannual maintenance shut down leading to six no-production days in the month (May 16-21). This reduced vehicle availability this month (both for domestic as well as exports). The company has just revealed the refreshed Venue, which is slated for launch on June 16, 2022.

Mahindra’s UV sales up

Mahindra & Mahindra’s overall auto sales for May 2022 stood at 53,726 vehicles. In the UV segment, its sales numbers were 26,632 vehicles, which is much higher than the 7,748 units sold in the same month last year. In April 2022, M&M sold 22,168 units, so this month’s tally is 20 percent higher.

In the PV segment, including cars and vans, M&M’s tally was 26,904 vehicles. Exports for May were at 2,028 vehicles. According to president of Automotive Division M&M, Veejay Nakra, “With sales of 26,632 SUVs in May, we continued the growth with all our brands performing well, including the XUV700 and Thar.”

The company is now gearing up for the launch of its all-new Scorpio-N later this month. The company said last week that it is ramping up capacity for its XUV700, which has a waiting period of 18-24 months. The company is receiving around 9,500 bookings per month for the XUV700, and just 10-12 percent have cancelled their bookings. Mahindra is also launching its electric XUV300 in the first quarter of calendar 2023 which will be a 4.2-metre SUV.

Toyota’s January to May sales up 16 percent

Toyota sold 10,216 vehicles in May 2022, inching close to pre-Covid levels, but down 34 percent over April 2022 sales. Toyota clocked sales of 13,066 units in the domestic market in May 2019. Its May 2021 tally was a meagre 707 units. Even in May 2020, the sales were significantly low at 1,639 units. Cumulative wholesales from January to May this year registered a growth of 16 percent when compared to the same period last year.

Atul Sood, associate vice president, Sales and Strategic Marketing TKM, said, “The Glanza has received an overwhelming response from our customers. Segment leading models like the Innova Crysta and Fortuner continue to perform well and generate healthy booking orders. The Camry Hybrid and the Vellfire continue to garner strong demand.”

Sonet, Carens shine in Kia’s May tally

Kia India has clocked sales of 18,718 cars in May 2022, with the Sonet being the highest contributor to the overall sales with 7,899 units, followed by Seltos with 5,953 units, Carens with 4,612 units and Carnival with 239 units. However, compared to April sales of 19,019 cars, sales in May 2022 was slightly lower. The May sales figures also include 15 EV6 cars that have been despatched to dealerships as display cars.

In sync with the gradual recovery in chips availability, Kia sold 97,796 units in the first five months of 2022, with a growth of 19 percent. It also crossed a domestic sales milestone of 4,50,000 vehicles while the Sonet raced past the 1,50,000 mark.

Slavia is Skoda's star performer

Skoda Auto recorded sales of 4,604 vehicles in May 2022 compared to the 716 cars sold in May 2021. However, the numbers are lesser than its April 2022 sales figures of 5,152 units. The made-for-India MQB A0 IN platform products, Slavia and the Kushaq, continue to be the star performers. The company said new customer touchpoints and inception of new-age tech in showrooms helped sales.

MG Motor doubles sales

MG Motor India has retailed 4,008 cars in May 2022 compared to 1,016 vehicles sold in May 2021. What’s particularly encouraging is the jump in sales compared to April 2022 when the company sold 2,008 vehicles. This was triggered by an improvement in chip availability, and the carmaker hopes the situation to improve further in the subsequent months.

Production and sales were affected in May 2020 and May 2021 due to the lockdown across India. MG stated that demand remains strong as the carmaker maintained a healthy booking pace and experiences growth, although production remains impacted due to the China lockdown. The company’s newly launched ZS EV has been getting good traction in the market with monthly bookings of 1,000 units.

Meanwhile, to further strengthen the EV ecosystem, MG Motor recently partnered with Bharat Petroleum for setting up EV charging infrastructure across the country.

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