Car Sales January 2019: Tata Motors Witnessed A Drop Of 8% In Total Sales

Tata Motors has released its monthly sales report for January 2019, during which the company witnessed a drop of 8 per cent in total sales, domestic and exports combined. Last month, the company's total sales stood at 54,915 units as against the 59,441 units sold in January 2018. The company's total domestic sales, including commercial and passenger vehicles, for January 2019 dropped by 7.61 per cent, with 54,915 units, against the 59,441 units sold during the same month in 2018. Exports, on the other hand, took a massive hit at 3,270 units, a decline of 37 per cent compared to January 2018. However, Tata said this was mainly because of the current liquidity crisis in Nepal, the formation of new government in Bangladesh and political uncertainty in Sri Lanka.

In the domestic market, Tata Motors' passenger vehicle sales took a considerable hit in January 2019, witnessing a drop of 11 per cent at 17,826 units, as compared with 20,055 units sold last year. The company says one of the reasons for the drop in PV sales was the low customer sentiments caused by non-availability of retail finance and liquidity crunch in the market. Tata Motors claims that the newly launched Harrier has received a good response in the market and the company is expecting to witness good volumes in the coming months as the production ramps up.

Tata Motors launched the new Tata Harrier SUV in January 2019

Mayank Pareek, President, Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors said, "January 2019 has been a rather sluggish period for the entire auto industry and has resulted in muted consumer sentiment. Having said that, we are positive to bounce back in the months to come on the back of our new generation products. This month has witnessed our UV segment grow by 3 per cent. With the ramp up in the Harrier production, we are expecting to continue this momentum. Harrier has been very well received by our consumers. We will continue to strive towards driving volumes and increasing our market share as part of our on-going turnaround journey."

Tata Motors' Commercial Vehicles (CV) domestic sales declined by 6 per cent in January 2019 to 37,089 units, compared to 39,386 units sold last year. Subdued market sentiments, high-interest rates, lag effect of implementation of revised axle load norms, slowing industrial output and declining IIP growth index were the primary factors behind the lull.

Between April 2018 and January 2019, Tata Motors' total sales grew by 21 per cent with 552,887 units as compared to 458,205 units over the same period last year. Passenger vehicle sales during this period grew by 17 per cent, at 174,223 units, compared to 149,284 units sold during the same period in the last fiscal year. On the other hand, commercial vehicle sales touched 378,664 units, a growth of 23 per cent compared to 308,921 units sold during the same period last year.