Sales of models like the Hyundai Tucson, Jeep Meridian, and Toyota Fortuner have dropped by 18% in the first 5 months of this fiscal.

SUVs have fuelled the post-pandemic growth of the Indian car industry. However, the latest figures suggest that sales of SUVs in the Rs 34-50 lakh bracket are slowing down.

According to media reports, sales of models like the Hyundai Tucson, Jeep Meridian, and Toyota Fortuner have dropped by 18% in the first 5 months of this fiscal. On the other hand, the midsize SUV segment has grown 6.3%, which reflects the changing consumer preferences.

Passenger vehicle sales in FY2024 were 4.22 million units. However, post-pandemic growth now appears to have slowed down. During the period of April-August, industry growth slowed down to under 2% with 1.75 million units sold.

SUVs have dominated the premium segment for years. However, with more options available in the sub-Rs 20 lakh segment, some customers are opting for these vehicles. Out of the 48 SUVs currently sold in India, less than a dozen are in the premium segment priced above Rs 20 lakh.

The 20 lakh-plus segment also offers a variety of options, including feature-rich midsize SUVs like the Harrier, Safari, Creta, Alcazar, Scorpio N, and XUV700. According to Jato Dynamics, there has been a surge in demand for SUVs and MPVs in this segment.

Source: ET

Between January and August 2024, CNG car sales surged by 46%, while hybrid sales grew by 19%.

CNG and hybrid vehicle sales have been on the rise in India, while EV sales have slowed down, registering single-digit growth.

According to the latest figures by Jato Dynamics, CNG car sales surged by 46% between January and August 2024. During the same period, hybrid sales grew by 19%, while EV sales slowed to 7%. Overall sales rose by 6% to 2.87 million units in the same period.

The surge in CNG sales can be attributed to more and more models being offered with a factory-fitted CNG option. It is also popular among gig workers and small businesses, which prefer CNG for its cost efficiency.

Maruti Suzuki sold 48,000 CNG vehicles in August 2024. The carmaker aims to sell 50,000 CNG cars per month, with the introduction of the Swift CNG. It is targeting 6 lakh units by the end of the fiscal.

Instead of focusing only on EVs, the government has adopted a broader strategy to promote alternative fuels. This has been reflected in the surge in hybrid vehicle sales. EVs are facing increased competition in the market, with multiple fuel technology options now available for consumers.

Urban Cruiser Hyryder was the best-selling rebadged model with 18,852 units.

Rebadged Maruti Suzuki models now make up a majority of Toyota sales in India. Toyota sold an estimated 51,314 units of badge-engineered models between April and July 2024. That’s a massive 52% of the brand’s total vehicle wholesales of 97,867 units.

The contribution of rebadged Maruti cars increased by 12% compared to the same period last year. Data shows that the Urban Cruiser Hyryder was the best-selling rebadged model in Toyota’s lineup. 18,852 units were sold, up 58% YoY.

The Glanza was the second most popular car with 17,851 units. Its cumulative sales since June 2019 stood at 1,78,886 units. In third place was the Urban Cruiser Taisor with 8,005 units, followed by the Rumion with 6,606 units.

In FY2024, Toyota registered sales of 2,45,676 units, with rebadged models making up 43% of the total sales. With more than half of the sales coming from badge-engineered models, Toyota looks set to post record sales in FY2025.

Source: Autocar India

Maruti received 1,65,000 bookings in the month of August out of which 50,000 were for CNG models.

India’s biggest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, has been witnessing significant growth in CNG sales over the past few months. One in three Maruti Suzuki cars sold in August was a CNG model.

According to Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer of Marketing & Sales, CNG models contributed over 34% of its total sales last month. The carmaker sold 49,602 CNG cars in August, a 37% growth compared to the previous year. The Brezza was the best-seller with 19,190 units, followed by the Ertiga with 18,580 units.

According to Banerjee, Maruti received 1,65,000 bookings in the month of August out of which 50,000 or almost 40% were for CNG models. The carmaker aims to sell over 6 lakh CNG vehicles in FY2024-25, a 30% increase in sales compared to the previous fiscal.

Maruti Suzuki currently offers CNG variants of the Alto, S-Presso, Celerio, WagonR, Baleno, Fronx, Brezza and Ertiga. Later this week, the carmaker will introduce the CNG version of the latest-gen Swift hatchback.

Source: HT Auto

Hyundai Creta has the highest average sales per month and Skoda Kushaq has managed to outsell MG Astor by a meagre 134 units in average sales per month for the past 6 months.

BHPian 07CR recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

We have seen monthly sales charts on Team bhp for quite some time. I am now trying to analyze the sales per dealership. There are some shocking findings!

1. Hyundai has the highest showroom/sales outlets in India. Nexa comes in a distant second.
2. Creta has the highest AVG sales per month, with 2nd and 3rd placed together (GV and Seltos) beating it by just 1K.
3. Nexa Grand Vitara remains the best seller when it comes to cars sold per sales outlet/showroom, with Seltos coming in a close second.
4. MG despite being a late entrant to India (2019 entry) has marginally more sales outlets than Skoda (2001 entry) and Volkswagen (2007 entry).
5. Kushaq manages to outsell Astor by a meagre 134 units in avg sales per month for past 6 months. A sorry figure indeed considering Skoda's 18 year headstart to India innings compared to MG.
6. Taigun with lesser sales outlets than Skoda manages to outsell Kushaq by an average of 450 units per month. Interesting, considering both are virtually the same cars with minor differences.
7. Creta despite leading the monthly sales by huge margin, falls behind in cars sold per sales outlets and comes in 3rd. Shows the immense reach of Hyundai India, and also an opportunity for Creta to capture more market share.
8. Seltos sold per sales outlet should encourage Kia to expand its dealerships in India and also increase its current manufacturing capacity, which is currently operating at near 100%. If this is done, it could probably emerge as the strongest competitor for Creta.

Would love to hear your comments.

• Source for number of sales outlets- Respective car websites/Carwale
• Source for monthly sales- Team BHP monthly sales reports
• Only Nexa outlets considered for Grand Vitara

Here's what BHPian sharmanova had to say about the matter:

Here are some more from my side:

Note: The no. of showrooms isn't accurate since a lot of websites claim different numbers. So let's assume it to be an estimated no.of showrooms.

Micro SUV Segment:

Comments:

• Tata has the highest number of showrooms in India. Hyundai comes in second.
• Punch has the highest average sales per month with Exter and Ignis coming in 2nd and 3rd ranks respectively.
• Citroen the lesser number of showrooms sells more cars than Nexa, so it has the potential to sell 500-600 units of the C3 twins by launching AT transmission and updating them with new features.

Sub-Compact SUV Segment:

Comments:

• Tata has the highest number of showrooms in India. Hyundai comes in second.
• Brezza has the highest average sales per month with Nexon and Sonet coming in 2nd and 3rd positions respectively.
• Sonet is the best seller when it comes to cars sold per showroom with Fronx and Bolero coming in 2nd and 3rd positions respectively.
• Surprisingly, Nissan is at 4th position! Nissan dealers sell ~9-11 Magnite's every month!
• Despite being a Lifestyle off-roader, ~9-10 Thar's roll out from Mahindra showrooms every month.
• The erstwhile best seller, Tata Nexon is at 8th position, due to the (possibly?) higher no.of showrooms.
• The recently launched Taisor, Kiger and Jimny are at the bottom line.
• It seems that the ₹2L+ discount isn't working for the Jimny.

Premium UV Segment:

Comments:

• Tata has the highest number of showrooms in India. Hyundai comes in second.
• Scorpio has the highest average sales per month with Innova Crysta/HyCross and XUV700 coming in 2nd and 3rd positions respectively.
• Scorpio again is the best seller when it comes to cars sold per showroom with Innova Crysta/HyCross and XUV700 again in 2nd and 3rd positions respectively.
• MG Hector comes at 4th position, maybe the better showroom experience is helping it.
• The 'overpriced' Fortuner keeps Toyota dealers happy with ~6-7 units/dealer/month.
• Despite being a sales dud, Compass is at 6th position.
• C5 Aircross and Tucson are an absolute disappointment to their dealers with ~0-1 units/dealer/month.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

5 out of the top 10 cars sold in India in FY2023-24 were from the Arena line-up.

Maruti Suzuki Arena is celebrating its 7th anniversary this year. The carmaker has sold over 82 lakh units through the Arena retail chain, since its inception in 2017.

According to Maruti Suzuki, 5 out of the top 10 cars sold in India in FY2023-24 were from its Arena line-up. These include the Wagon-R, Swift, Brezze, Dzire and Ertiga. Arena models contributed to 68% of the brand’s overall sales during the same period.

The Maruti Suzuki Arena network consists of 3,069 outlets spread across 2,596 cities in India. The carmaker claims that young customers make up 49% of Arena sales.

Today, the Maruti Suzuki Arena line-up includes 9 models. These include the Alto K10, S-Presso, Wagon-R, Celerio, Swift, Dzire, Brezza, Ertiga and Eeco.

Electric and CNG variants make up 47% of Punch’s total sales.

The Tata Punch has become India’s top-selling car with over 1.26 lakh units sold between January and July 2024.

The Maruti Suzuki WagonR, which has been the top-selling car in India for a long time, slipped to second place with 1.16 lakh units sold. The Hyundai Creta was the third best-selling car during this period with 1.09 lakh units sold, followed by the Maruti Brezza and Ertiga with 1.05 lakh and 1.04 lakh units, respectively.

Tata Motors has registered a massive growth in the sales of the Punch compared to the same period last year when just over 79,000 units were sold. However, in July 2024, Punch sales slipped to fourth position with the Hyundai Creta taking the top spot.

According to media reports, electric and CNG variants make up 47% of Punch’s total sales, whereas CNG contributes to 45% of WagonR’s sales. CNG variants of the Brezza and Ertiga make up 27% and 58% of their respective sales.

Source: TOI

Robust PV sales were driven by new model launches and attractive pricing strategies.

According to the data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), vehicle retail sales grew by 13.84% in July 2024 compared to the same month last year.

Overall sales for the month of July 2024 stood at 20,34,116 units, compared to 17,86,779 units in July 2023.

Tractor sales dropped by 11.95%, from 90,821 units in July 2023 to 79,970 units, last month.

Two-wheeler sales went up by 17.17% to 14,43,463 units from 12,31,930 units in July 2023.

Three-wheeler sales were up by 12.88% in July 2024. 1,10,497 units were sold, compared to 97,891 units in July 2023.

Passenger vehicle sales went up by 10.18% compared to the previous year. 3,20,129 units were sold last month, compared to 2,90,564 units, in July 2023.

Commercial vehicle sales increased by 5.93%. 80,057 units were sold in July 2024, compared to 75,573 units in the previous year.

According to FADA, robust PV sales were driven by new model launches and attractive pricing strategies. The 2W segment experienced notable growth due to a thriving rural economy, positive monsoon effects, and government support programs enhancing rural incomes. The segment also saw an increase in EV sales due to discounts and the EMPS scheme deadline.

Team-BHP's detailed analysis of the July 2024 sales figures.

While Honda’s dealer dispatches stood at 4,83,100 units in July 2024, Hero Motocorp still leads the market in terms of retail sales.

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) registered a 43% growth in July 2024, overtaking Hero MotoCorp in the process.

Last month, Honda’s wholesales stood at 4,83,100 units compared to 3,38,310 units in July 2023. This includes domestic sales, which grew by 41.26% to 4,39,110 units, while exports rose by 60.27% to 43,982 units.

In comparison, Hero MotoCorp reported sales of 3,70,374 units in July 2024. This includes 3,40,390 motorcycles and 29,884 scooters. The company’s domestic sales fell by 6.43 % to 3,47,335 units, while exports increased from 20,106 units in July 2023 to 22,739 units. That being said, Hero Motocorp still leads the market in terms of retail sales.

TVS claimed third place with sales of 2,54,250 units in July 2024. The company registered a growth of 8.08% compared to the same month last year.

Bajaj reported sales of 1,68,847 units of sales with a growth of 18.91% and Suzuki completed the top 5 with 1,00,602 units of sales, registering a growth of 25.26% YoY.

Source: Times Now

The Kia Seltos makes up the majority of sales, accounting for over 48%, followed by the Sonet and Carens at 34% and 16%, respectively.

Kia India is celebrating its fifth anniversary with a new sales milestone. The carmaker has achieved 1 million domestic sales in under 59 months, making it the fastest carmaker to reach this milestone.

Launched in 2019, the Kia Seltos makes up the majority of sales, accounting for over 48%, followed by the Sonet and Carens at 34% and 16%, respectively.

According to the company, top trims make up 42% of its sales. Currently, Kia offers 3 automatic transmissions: IVT, 6AT and 7DCT, which contribute to 32% of its total sales. The iMT (Intelligent Manual Transmission) introduced on the Sonet in 2020, contributes 15% to its domestic sales. The company's Petrol to Diesel ratio remains at 59%:41% currently.

In its first year of operation, Kia sold 45,226 units in India, which grew to 1,40,505 units in 2020. In 2021, Kia sold 1,81,583 units and 2,54,556 units a year later. Last year, the carmaker sold 2,55,000 units and has sold 1.5 lakh units in the first 7 months of 2024.

Kia also exports vehicles manufactured in India to over 100 markets. The carmaker has dispatched over 2.6 lakh units to countries around the world to date.