Car Sales Report January 2019: Major Slump In Sales Across Most Brands In India

Car Sales Report January 2019: The sales report for the month of January 2019 has been released by various car manufacturers in India. The sales report showcase a major slump in sales from most car brands, after what seemed to be a positive December 2018.

Companies such as Honda, Nissan are among the only brands to have recorded significant sales growth. Although other brands like Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra also show marginal sales growth.

However, this is not the case for most others who have recorded a massive slump in sales in January 2019. The main reason for the slump is due to the varied unavoidable external factors.

Maruti Suzuki

Maruti Suzuki recorded a domestic sales of 139,440 for the month of January 2019. This is a marginal growth of just 0.2 per cent, compared to the same month last year. In terms of the export market, the brand witnessed a slump of 11 per cent from 10,751 units in January 2018 to 9,571 units last month.

The company recently introduced their all-new Wagon R hatchback, as well as the 2019 Baleno facelift in the market. Maruti Suzuki hopes that the new Wagon R and the Baleno facelift will help bring back the sales volume. The new Maruti Wagon R has already proved to be a success, registering 16,000 bookings within a two week period.

Hyundai Motors India

Hyundai has also grown just marginally in January 2019, compared to the same month last year. The brand has improved their sales by just 0.6 per cent to 45,803 units from 45,508 units in January 2018.

Vikas Jain, National Sales Head, Hyundai Motor India Ltd. said, "January 2019 started on a cautious note however Hyundai Motor India registered all model growth on account of the strong performance by all-new Santro, Grand i10, Elite i20, Creta and the next-gen Verna. The Government has announced many people-oriented schemes with a focus towards rural economy during the Interim Budget 2019-20 and we expect this will give positive impetus to the customer sentiments and business environment."

Mahindra

Mahindra's passenger vehicle segment has also managed to grow by just one per cent in January 2019, compared to the January last year. The passenger vehicle segment of Mahindra recorded a sales of 22,399 units last month, compared to 22,360 units in January 2018.

However, overall Mahindra registered a decent growth rate of 7 per cent. This includes passenger and commercial vehicles including the exports as well. Overall, the company sold 55,722 units in the previous month compared to 52,063 units last year.

Mahindra is currently preparing to launch their latest SUV in the market, the XUV 300. The new SUV will be placed below the XUV 500 and is based on the Ssangyong Tivoli platform.

Rajan Wadhera, President, Automotive Sector, M&M Ltd. said, "The first month of the new calendar year continues to be on an overall growth path. There is buoyancy in rural growth, commodity costs are levelling, fuel prices are coming down and we see improvement in Forex movement, which in turn will drive positive customer sentiment. Having successfully established the Marazzo & Alturas brands and with the upcoming launch of our new compact SUV, the XUV300, we are positive on our outlook".

Honda Cars India

Honda has been one of the main gainers in the month of January 2019. The brand has managed to beat the automotive sales slump, recording a massive growth of 23 per cent over January 2018.

Honda has recorded a sales figure of 18,261 units in the month of January 2019, compared to 14,838 units during the same month last year. Currently, the brand is preparing to bring back the much-awaited Civic nameplate into the Indian market.

Tata Motors

Tata Motors passenger vehicle segment has witnessed a drop in sales by 11 per cent. Compared to 20,055 units sold in January last year, the company has managed sales of just 17,826 units in the previous month. The export sales, on the other hand, saw a steeper drop of 37 per cent over last year.

The company introduced their latest five-seater SUV, the Harrier recently. The Tata Harrier comes with a starting price of Rs 12.69 lakh, ex-showroom (Delhi). Currently, Tata is preparing to globally debut four new models at the upcoming 2019 Geneva Motor Show.

Here are the domestic sales and growth of major brands.

Verdict

The first month of 2019 has already witnessed a number of launches of new cars and facelift alike. However, even with the new launches, most manufacturers still managed to record a slump in sales. With more new cars expected in February, it will be interesting to see how the brands will come back from the slump next month.