Car Sales March 2018: Tata Motors Registers 23% Growth In FY2017-18

Indian auto major Tata Motors ended the 2017-18 financial year on a high, registering a 35 per cent cumulative growth in sales for the month of March 2018. The automaker sold 69,440 units last month, as against 51,309 units during the same period month last year across its passenger and commercial vehicle business. Collectively, Tata Motors recorded a sales growth of 23 per cent in FY2018 with 586,639 units sold, as compared to 478,362 units sold in FY2017. With the advent of new products and a stabilising commercial vehicle market, the company has grown stronger than ever.

(The Tiago continues to be a strong seller for Tata Motors)

With respect to Passenger Vehicle sales, Tata Motors registered a sale of 20,266 units in March 2018, a growth of 31 per cent, as compared to the 15,433 units sold last year. The company's strong growth in the segment comes from products like the Tiago and Tigor, while the Nexon and Hexa command strong volumes in the UV space for the manufacturer. Tata said that the passenger car segment declined by 4 per cent, while the UV segment grew by 223 per cent, supporting the strong customer liking for SUVs at present. For the 2017-18 financial year, between April 2017-March 2018, Tata sold a total of 187,321 units, a growth of 22 per cent over 153,151 units sold during the last financial year.

Coming to the Commercial Vehicle sector, Tata Motors' domestic sales stood 49,174 units in March 2018, an increase of 37 per cent compared to 35,876 units sold in March 2017. The automaker attributed the growth towards infrastructure development, restriction on overload, road construction and mining activities. The increasing demand from e-commerce and FMCG applications has also helped push the CV sector. For the 2017-18 financial year, Tata registered a total of 399,318 units for its commercial vehicles as opposed to 325,211 in FY2016-17, a growth of 23 per cent over the last fiscal.

The M&HCV truck segment witnessed a steady growth with 16,886 units, an increase of 21 per cent over last year; while the Tipper segment drove the demand and grew over 58 per cent due to increased requirements for aggregate, sand and coal movement across the country in road construction and mining activities. In addition, the I&LCV truck segment reported a strong performance at 5,737 units, a hefty increase of 97 per cent over last year. This growth was bolstered by new product launches and growing demand for container and refrigerator trucks.

(Tata recently handed over Starbus Hybrid Buses to Mumbai's BEST Services)

The SCV cargo and pickup segment reported a sturdy growth with 19,464 units, up by 52 per cent over last year. The volumes for this segment were aided by Government/Municipal applications, high private consumption led growth in both rural and urban markets and general uptick in buying sentiment. The commercial passenger carrier segment posted the highest sales for the year with 7087 units, an increase by 13 per cent over last year. The Tata Winger saw its best ever sale of over 986 units this year. Tata Motors also recently bagged orders for Electric Buses in six cities out of nine cities.

With respect to exports, Tata's sales stood at 6443 units in March 2018, a growth of 17 per cent over last year.