Last month, sales of passenger vehicles stood at 3,60,897 units. This is the highest monthly sales ever for the automobile industry. The industry had made its previous high in September last year with sales of 3,55,400 units. Hyundai Motor India, Mahindra & Mahindra and Toyota Kirloskar Motor have also dispatched large numbers to dealers last month. During the period from April to August this year, the sales of the automobile industry were more than 17 lakh units. This is an increase of eight percent compared to the same period last year.
Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer (Marketing and Sales), Maruti Suzuki, said that the SUV segment continues to perform well. Last month, its share in the total sales of passenger vehicles was 48.6 percent. The festive season has started in Kerala with Onam. Retail sales of the automobile industry in Kerala have increased by about 25 percent. Maruti’s SUV sales have been strong. The company’s wholesales in August stood at 1,89,082 units. This is the highest ever wholesales for it in a month. The company’s Grand Vitara, Brezza and Jimny are getting good response. Last month, Maruti’s SUV sales stood at 41,658 units.
Mahindra & Mahindra has sold 37,233 units in this segment. Veejay Nakra, President (Automotive Division) of the company said, “We have sold the highest number of 37,270 units in a month in the SUV segment. The demand for SUVs remains strong. To sustain the growth, we are looking at semiconductor and other important “Monitoring parts availability.” Toyota Kirloskar Motor also posted its highest monthly sales last month with 22,190 units. Total dispatches to the company’s dealers have increased by 53 percent. However, Tata Motors’ overall sales of passenger vehicles, including electric vehicles, declined by about 3.5 percent.