The 2017 calendar year is about to come to an end, and this is the time when a lot of automakers struggle a bit to push the sales. While in October many automakers saw a positive growth thanks to Diwali, companies were expecting similar number from November sales as well. As of now the country's leading car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki India has announced 14.3 per cent growth in the domestic market, while other carmakers like Ford, Mahindra, Toyota and Hyundai all registered double digit growth in the month of November 2017
November 2017 has been a positive month for the Indo-Japanese carmaker that saw a year-on-year growth of 14.1 per cent with total sales of 154,600 (1.54 lakh) units, compared to the 135,550 (1.35 lakh) units sold in November 2016. The numbers include domestic sales plus exports of both passenger vehicles and the company's light commercial vehicle - Super Carry. Domestic passenger vehicle sales last month went up by 14.3 per cent with 144,297 (1.44 lakh) units against the 126,220 (1.26 lakh) units that were sold in November 2016. Exports, on the other hand, have seen a marginal growth of 0.8 per cent with 9,300 units compared to the 9,225 units exported during the same month last year.
The new Maruti Suzuki Dzire sales continues to grow in the compact vehicle space
Sale of Maruti Suzuki's mid-size sedan Ciaz has gone down by a massive 26.3 per cent at 4,009 units compared to 5,433 sold in November 2016. However, the compact and utility vehicle space has been growing as always 32.4 per cent and 34.0 per cent, respectively, thanks to the new-gen Dzire and the, of course, the company's star player Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza.
The Japanese carmaker also registered 7 per cent growth in total sales in the month of November 2017. Toyota's total sales 13,420 units last month compared to the 12,593 units sold in November 2016. Sales in Domestic market, however, was much better with the company's registering a 13 per cent growth with 12,734 units in November 2017, against the 11,309 units sold during the same month last year. Exports, on the other hand, saw a massive fall of almost 47 per cent with the company exporting 686 units in November 2017, compared to the 1,284 units exported during the same month last year.
Demand for Innova Crysta and Fortuner still high, company is trying to reduce the waiting period
Commenting on the monthly sales, N. Raja, Director & Sr. Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, "The November month has been promising for us with a double digit growth. TKM has sustained a positive growth since last three months. With maximum utilization of Plant 1 and maintaining lean inventory we are trying to reduce the waiting period of Innova and Fortuner for our customers. We are delighted that our legendary products Innova Crysta and Fortuner continue to witness strong demand in the market. The demand has grown every month since its launch last year in 2016. This positive growth reflects the confidence customers have on Toyota products delivering the best quality, comfort, safety to customers. We would like to extend our gratitude to our loyal customers who have retained their trust on our products time and again."
While the company hasn't shared individual numbers, the Toyota Etios Liva is also claimed to have made a considerable contribution to November sales. Also, while demand for Toyota flagship hybrid car, the Camry hasn't seen any major up lift, the company is optimistic customers will understand and appreciate the benefits of clean & green-friendly HV (Hybrid Vehicle) technology.
Leading Utility vehicle manufacturer Mahindra and Mahindra also saw double digit growth in the months of November 2017. The company's total sales, including the commercial vehicle, went up by 21 per cent with 38,570 units, against the 32,564 units sold in November 2016. Passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market also went up by 21 per cent at 16,030 units, compared to 13,198 units sold during the same month last year. Commercial vehicle sales also saw double digit growth in November 2016 at 22 per cent with 15,554 units compared to the 12,718 units sold in November 2016. Last month the company also launched the new 2017 Mahindra Scorpio facelift.
Mahindra launched the 2017 Scorpio facelift in India in November
Commenting on the monthly performance, Rajan Wadhera, President, Automotive Sector, M&M said, "We are happy to be in a positive growth phase for November 2017, which is usually a lean period post the festive season. Our passenger and small commercial vehicles growth for the month of November have been very encouraging at 21% and 29 per cent respectively, while the MHCV segment continued to grow very well. We expect our growth momentum to continue on the back of some recent refresh launches as well as the positivity of our product portfolio."
November has truly been a great month for Ford India and the company has registered a substantial 28.6 per cent growth in total sales in the month of November 2017 with the number reaching 27,019 units, against 21, 004 units sold during the same month last year. Domestic sales in November also grew to 7,777 vehicles compared to the 6,876 units a year ago, driven by recently introduced compact SUV new Ford EcoSport. November exports, on the other hand, rose to a record 19,242 vehicles at 38.1 per cent, the highest-ever in Ford India's history, from 14,128 units last year.
The Ford EcoSport has been a major contributor to the company's November sales
Anurag Mehrotra, President & Managing Director, Ford India, "November was all about the New Ford EcoSport. Our fun, stylish, powerful and connected compact SUV is winning the hearts and minds of customers, not only with its introductory price but the whole host of features. We are confident of maintaining this sales momentum getting into 2018, despite macroeconomic indicators suggesting volatility in inflation and crude prices impacting the industry growth over the near-medium term."
The new-gen Hyundai Verna mainly aided in the company's sale growth for November
Hyundai Motor India also registered double digit growth at 10 per cent with 44,008 units compared to the 40,016 units sold during the same month last year. Commenting on the November sales performance, Rakesh Srivastava, Director - Sales & Marketing, HMIL, said "Hyundai volume of 44,008 units is a growth of 10% with strong performance of the newly launched bestseller Next Gen Verna along with GRAND i10, ELITE i20 and CRETA. Due to strong pull of festive demand on the strength of buoyant Rural markets, we hope to build on this positive momentum with a cumulative retail sales of 200,000 units for the period September to December 2017. We have also strengthened our export with first dispatch of 2,022 units of Made-in-India Next Gen VERNA to Middle East market from November 2017."
The Tata Nexon's production has been increased to meet growing demand
Tata Motors passenger vehicle sales also saw a massive boost of 35 per cent with 17,157 units compared to the 12,736 units in domestic market with strong growth momentum. The major contributors to the company's domestic sales came from the Tata Tiago, Hexa, Tigor and also the newly launched Tata Nexon. Exports, on the other hand, went down by 12 per cent at 4,927, against the 5,626 units exported in November 2016. Tata Motors' Commercial Vehicles sales in domestic market in November 2017 were at 35,307 units, a growth of 72 per cent compared to 20,538 units in November 2016.
Honda Cars India registered a total growth of about 39 per cent with a total of 12,102 units being sold in November 2017 compared to the 8,726 units sold in November 2016. The company saw a growth of 47.2 per cent with monthly domestic sales of 11,819 units in November 2017 against 8,029 units in the corresponding month last year. Exports, on the other hand, saw a drastic fall of over 58 per cent with 283 units compared to the 697 units exported during the same month last year. Sale of the carmaker's newest offering the Honda WR-V has also gone up, thus contributing to the company's total domestic sales.
The Honda WR-V was the top-selling car from Honda in the month of November 2017
Commenting on the company's performance, Yoichiro Ueno, President and CEO, Honda Cars India Ltd. said, "Last year HCIL sales in November were severely affected by demonetization. Although Nov volumes this year have shown improvement over last year, the market is still to recover fully from the GST related changes affecting consumers at large. On a cumulative basis, HCIL sales have grown by 19% backed by strong performance of our models across markets and it gives us confidence that we will have good growth in this fiscal year".
