Car Sales March 2017: Industry Sees Growth, Registers Impressive Sales

This year has been an eventful year for the Indian automotive industry. From the ban on diesel cars to demonetization and the very recent ban on sale and registration of BS 3 vehicles, auto manufacturers in India have experienced a handful of major challenges in this fiscal year. And despite these trials of strategies and policies, companies seem to have largely observed positive growth. Maruti Suzuki and Nissan's numbers for March 2017 give an impressive report of how the industry navigated through the year. Here are the detailed sales figures:

Maruti Suzuki sold 139,763 units in March 2017 including 127,999 units in the domestic market and 11,764 units in exports. It had sold a total of 129,345 units in March 2016. With this, Maruti Suzuki surpassed the 1.5 million mark in total sales in 2016-17 and registered its highest ever total sales of 1,568,603 units - a growth of 9.8%. This comprises highest ever domestic sales of 1,444,541 units. The export sales were 124,062 units.

On the other hand, Nissan Motor India, which started FY2016 with the launch of the Datsun redi-GO in June 2016 and went on to add the Nissan GT-R in December 2016, also observed strong sales with total domestic sales of 57,315 units in FY2016, a growth of 45% over the previous financial year. This fiscal year also marked the company's highest-ever volume achieved in India. It may be interesting to note that with this growth rate, Nissan India was the second-fastest growing auto company in the country in FY2016. As far as sales in March 2017 are concerned, the company sold 5,309 vehicles - an increase of 21% over the same period last year.

Guillaume Sicard, President, Nissan India Operations, said, "FY2016 has been a remarkable year for Nissan India. We are delighted by the progress and the acceptance of our products and services by our customers. We have remained focused on sustaining and accelerating our performance and the team has worked hard to reach closer to our customers. On the products front, Datsun redi-GO has been our most significant new model launch in the last year and has been a key driver of our success and raising brand awareness. Looking ahead, in the medium-term Nissan India plans to launch 8 new products in India by 2021 with an aim to achieve 5% market share in India."

Ford India too ended the first quarter of 2017 with double digit growth in combined domestic wholesale and export. Its combined domestic wholesales and exports grew to 24,832 vehicles in March from 21,198 vehicles in the corresponding month last year. March domestic wholesales grew to 8,700 vehicles up from 7,560 units while the exports grew to 16,132 vehicles from 13,638 units in the same month last year.

Anurag Mehrotra, executive director, Marketing, Sales & Service at Ford India, said, "We continued to delight Indian families with products that promise safety and compelling value for money. Furthermore, our efforts in addressing the cost of ownership perception and the promise of a differentiated and transparent experience helped us deliver above industry growth rate in the first quarter."

In the first quarter of 2017, Ford India's combined domestic wholesale and exports grow to 63,117 vehicles compared to 51,338 in the first quarter last year.

The new Honda City facelift and WR-V led the company's positive sales

The last month of the 2017 financial year ended on a positive note for Honda Cars India as the Japanese auto giant registered a growth of 8.7 per cent. The company recorded sales of 18,950 units in March 2017, as against 17,430 units in March 2016. Exports on the other hand, were at 145 units last month. The automaker's growth in March has been largely attributed to its two new launches - the 2017 Honda City facelift and the all-new Honda WR-V crossover.

The Honda City facelift was the company's bestseller for the month with 6271 units moved out, followed by the WR-V with 3833 units sold in its opening month of sales. The Honda Jazz was the automaker's third bestselling model with 3527 units sold in March, while the Amaze recorded 3296 units last month. Honda low-sellers included the BR-V with 1436 units, followed by the Brio with 540 units and Accord Hybrid with 28 units. The Honda CR-V was the least selling model with only 19 units sold.

Speaking about the sales for March 2017, Honda Cars India - President and CEO, Yoichiro Ueno said, "Strong sales momentum for our latest offerings in the market, New Honda City 2017 and Honda WR-V, helped us achieve good sales result during March 2017. We are thankful to our customers for their support to Honda." "As we enter into the new fiscal year, we are confident of a strong show in 2017-18 with a robust product-portfolio and good demand from the market."

Mahindra saw decline of 6 per cent in passenger vehicle sales last month

Mahindra seems to have taken the brunt of BS-III vehicles being banned as its passenger vehicles segment saw a drop of 6 per cent in sales. The company sold 25,352 vehicles in March 2017, as against 26,885 units sold in March 2016. The company's domestic sales stood at 53,322 units last month, as opposed to 48,967 vehicles sold in March last year, thereby registering a growth of 9 per cent. Meanwhile, the medium and heavy commercial vehicle segments registered a growth of 67 per cent for the automaker. On other hand, exports were down by a good 28 per cent for the company with only 2709 units shipped out. While the automaker recorded slumping sales for in passenger vehicle space, Mahindra did say that its flagship products have performed reasonably well, while the Mahindra KUV100 and TUV300 cumulatively crossed the 1 lakh sales mark since its launch.

Commenting on the performance for March 2017, Mahindra and Mahindra - President, Automotive Sector, Rajan Wadhera said, "At Mahindra, we have performed reasonably well on all our flagship products and have witnessed growth of 31 per cent and 67 per cent respectively in our commercial vehicles and MHCV segment for the month of March 2017. We are particularly happy that our new brands are gaining traction as together the KUV100 and TUV300 crossed the 1 lakh vehicle sales milestone since its launch. However, the auto industry continues to see mixed reactions due to several external challenges and the more recent one being the unexpected verdict on the sale of BS3 vehicles that has derailed many planned operations. Going forward, factors such as the likely softening of interest rates, revision in fuel prices, GST implementation and the Union Budget's focus on rural are expected to bring back demand."

On a year-on-year basis, Mahindra registered a growth of 3 per cent in the auto sector with 5,06,625 vehicles sold, while March 2017 alone saw a cumulative growth of 6 per cent for the manufacturer with 56,031 units sold.