Carmakers see drop in July sales as pent-up demand tapers

According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) data for the April-June 2024 period, these three automotive companies held 69% of the market share by sales (PV segment) in the car market.

Bengaluru: India’s biggest carmakers - Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India Ltd and Tata Motors -  registered a year-on-year (YoY) decline in passenger vehicles (PV) sold to dealers in the month of July, with Maruti posting a 9.6% YoY dip in the sale of PVs to 137,463 units, down from 152,126 units in the year-ago period. This decline is attributable to a reduction in pent-up demand building-up from last year.

According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) data for the April-June 2024 period, these three automotive companies held 69 per cent of the market share by sales (PV segment) in the car market.

"Post Covid, we saw a significant rise in demand for cars in 2023 and 2024 with customers having a waiting period as long as 12 months. This was also due to other issues such as chip shortage & supply chain disruptions. However, most of these issues are now sorted and the pent up demand too has gotten fulfilled not only in India but globally as well," said Rajeev Singh, Partner and Consumer Industry leader, Deloitte Asia Pacific.

The decline in PV sales in July is due to large inventory build-up with dealers over the past two months. This build-up was caused by a combination of factors, including intense heat, elections, and other reasons, according to Som Kapoor, Partner and Future of Mobility Leader, EY-Parthenon.

Hyundai Motor India experienced a 3.3 per cent decrease in sales to  49,013 units , marking the first decline in the current fiscal year. Tata Motors saw a 6 per cent YoY slide in sales to  44,954 units, its second consecutive monthly drop. However, Mahindra & Mahindra, whose PV segment is almost entirely made up of SUVs, posted a 15 per cent YoY growth in sales.