Revving Towards Success: India's Car and SUV Market Sees Strong Growth in April 2023

The passenger vehicle (PV) market in India has had a strong start to the fiscal year 2024 (April 2023 to March 2024), with calculated wholesales of roughly 3,30,000 units. With record wholesales of 38 lakh units, the PV market ended the fiscal year 2023 (April 2022 to March 2023) successfully.

The market is being supported by persistent demand for SUVs, rising consumer interest in sedans, and automakers increasing production to meet the nearly 8,000,000-unit backlog of pending orders. With the exception of December 2022, when wholesales fell to 2,75,352 units, April 2023 would mark the 11th consecutive month in which sales of cars and SUVs from the vehicle manufacturers who released their April 2023 wholesales statistics on May 1 exceeded 3,000 units. Toyota and Honda saw a decline in sales, while Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Kia India, MG Motor India, and Nissan India reported double-digit increases. Let's examine the performance of the companies in terms of growth both year over year (YoY) and month over month (MoM).

1,37,320 units/13 percent YoY for Maruti Suzuki

With 1,37,320 units in April 2023, Maruti Suzuki, the market leader for passenger cars in India, experienced a 13% year-over-year growth (April 2022: 1,21,995). The month-over-month growth was 3.43 percent (March 2023: 132,763). The company is always suffering from inefficient sales in the entry-level hatchback market for the mass market; mixed sales for the Alto and S-Presso are down 18% at 14,110 units (April 2022: 17,137 units). The Eeco van is the other model in the red with 10,504 units, a 6 percent YoY decrease from April 2022's 11,154 units.

Baleno, Celerio, Dzire, Ignis, Swift, Tour S, and Waggon R make up the seven-model pack, which accounts for 74,935 units altogether, an growth of 27% YoY (April 2022: 59,184 units). Despite beginning from a low base of 579 units in April 2022, the premium Ciaz sedan sold 1,017 units in April, up 76% YoY.

The Brezza, XL6, Grand Vitara, and Ertiga SUVs from Maruti Suzuki sold 36,754 units, an increase of 8% year over year (April 2022: 33,941 units).

Maruti Suzuki is still the undisputed market leader, but with an estimated 3,73,000 car and SUV orders backlog and a fiercely competitive market, the company will need to focus on increasing production.

Hyundai: 49,701 units (12.3% YoY).

The car and SUV manufacturer, based in Chennai, recorded wholesale sales of 49,701 units in April 2023, an increase of 13% YoY (April 2022: 44,001 units). Hyundai's growth from month to month decreased by 1.77 percent (March 2023: 50,600 units). The company's April 2023 wholesales, which surpassed September 2022's 49,700 units by one unit, are still the second-best monthly figures in the previous 13 months.

Tarun Garg, COO of Hyundai Motor India, claims "This strong growth has been supported by a resoundingly positive response to the recently introduced new Hyundai Verna, whose volume has more than doubled from its previous iteration. With the soon-to-be-released Hyundai Exter SUV from the Hyundai stable, we hope to maintain this momentum.

47,107 units/13 percent YoY for Tata Motors

Tata Motors started FY2023 with sales of 47,107 units in April 2023, up 13.15 percent year over year (April 2022: 41,630 units) and 6.95 percent better than March 2023's 44,044 units. Tata Motors surpassed half a million in sales in both FY2022 and FY2023.

The company, which sells in seven models—Altroz, Tigor, Tiago, Nexon, Punch, Harrier, and Safari—has benefited from the elevation in demand for its SUVs, specifically the Nexon and the Punch, which are presently India's best-selling and fourth-best-selling models, respectively.

Tata Motors added the high-end Altroz hatchback to its lineup of CNG vehicles last month, adding the Tiago and Tigor as well. What is commendable is that Tata Motors has already seized 13% of the market for CNG vehicles despite its recent entry into the CNG market.

The rapidly expanding electric vehicle market is one area where Tata Motors still enjoys a significant competitive advantage. The company is bringing home the gains with four products: the Nexon EV, Tigor EV, Xpres-T (for fleet buyers), and the sub-Rs 10 lakh Tiago EV.

The most notable aspect of the April statistics is that Tata Motors recorded its best-ever monthly EV wholesales, surpassing February's 5,318 units and March 2023's 6,509 units with 6,516 units. Put this down to the company's ability to meet the demand for both the Xpres-T sedan, which has received over 49,000 orders from seven fleet operators in FY2023, and its Tiago EV, for which it has received over 20,000 reservations.

Tata Motors, which had an 80 percent market share in EVs, is now facing competition in India's growing market for electric cars and SUVs. According to Vahan retail sales data for April 2023, Tata Motors had a share of 72.81 percent with 3,748 of the 5,147 total units sold. With 499 units sold, Mahindra has moved up to second place, which is obviously a result of the increasing interest in the all-electric XUV400, the first serious competitor to the Nexon EV.

23,216 units/22 percent YoY for Kia

In April 2023, Kia India reported wholesale sales of 23,216 units, a 22 percent year-over-year increase (April 2022: 19,019 units) and an 8 percent month-over-month increase (March 2023: 21,501 units).

With 9,744 units sold and 42 percent of all wholesales, the Kia Sonet compact SUV has become the brand's top seller. For the third month in a row, it has outsold the Seltos midsize SUV, which has long held the top spot and sold 7,213 units. The Sonet sold 9,836 units in February 2023 compared to the Seltos' 8,012 and 8,677 units in March 2023 as opposed to the Seltos' 6,554 units.

The Carens MPV sold 6,107 units, while Kia's perennial best-seller, the Seltos midsize SUV, moved 7,213 units. The Seltos, Sonet, and Carens were all among India's top-selling utility vehicles in FY2023; the Seltos came in at number eight, the Sonet at number nine, and the Carens came in at number eleven among the Top 30. The Carens is quickly becoming a growth engine for Kia in India.

Toyota: 14,162 units, a 4% YoY decline

In the domestic market, Toyota reported wholesales of 14,162 units in April 2023. This is a significant decrease of 24.14 percent from March 2023's 18,670 units, which was Toyota's best monthly performance in FY2023.

From April 24 to April 28, 2023, the company scheduled a weeklong maintenance shutdown at its manufacturing facilities in Bidadi, Karnataka, for the maintenance of machinery and equipment to maintain operational efficiencies, productivity, and safety.

The brand's vice president of sales and strategic marketing, Atul Sood, stated that "Toyota is continuing to experience high demand as well as good inquiries. The Toyota Hilux, Innova Hycross, and the brand-new Innova Crysta are still in high demand. Due to the popularity of the Urban Cruiser Hyryder and the segment dominance of the Fortuner and the Legender, which are consistently leading with over 82 percent market share in Q1 of CY 2023, our SUV segment share also continues to be strong. Sales of the Vellfire and the Camry Hybrid are also increasing steadily.

Toyota introduced "Wheels on Web" last month as an online retail sales platform for the Bengaluru area. Customers can now digitally reserve, buy, and receive delivery of vehicles like the Hycross (petrol), Hilux, Legender, Camry, Fortuner, and Innova Crysta (GX).

Honda: 5,313 units; a YoY decline of 33%

Honda India, a premium automaker, reported domestic sales of 5,313 units per month in April 2023, a decrease of 33% from April 2022's 7,874 units. Additionally, sales decreased month over month by 20.60 percent when compared to the 6,692 units sold in March 2023. 2,363 units were exported by HCIL during the month.

Honda's director of marketing and sales, Yuichi Murata, stated that the company's April 2023 sales were in line with expectations. Customers have praised the New City's robust safety features, which include Honda Sensing's Advanced Driver Assist System in almost all of the model's variants. With a strong market demand and upbeat consumer sentiment, we are happy to begin the new fiscal year.

4,551 units/ up 126 percent YoY for MG Motor India

MG Motor India reported retail sales of 4,551 units in April 2023, a 126 percent increase over the same month one year prior (2,008 units). The company's best monthly performance in FY2023, March 2023's 6,051 units, is down 24.78 percent month over month in April 2023.

According to MG Motor India, it still struggles to meet customer demand for a few models due to supply chain issues. More advancements on this front are anticipated in the upcoming months.

The company currently manufactures the Astor, Gloster, Hector, Hector Plus, and ZS EV SUVs. In FY2023, it sold a record 48,866 units. With sales of 80,000 to 100,000 units, which would result in a doubling of sales, it has set its sights on rapid growth for this fiscal year.

The small, two-door Comet EV, which went on sale on April 26 for Rs 7.98 lakh (ex-showroom), is expected to be one of the growth drivers. With its newest product, for which reservations will open on May 15, MG Motor India is optimistic about consumer demand for the Comet EV and aims to capture a 20% market share of the country's passenger EV market.

Nissan: 2,617 units; an increase of 23% YoY

Nissan India's wholesales increased by 22.28 percent to 2,617 units in April 2023 from 2,140 units in April 2022. This amount is lower than the 3,260 units in March 2023 by 19.72 percent.

"The positive momentum continues on the strength of the Nissan Magnite, which has garnered over 1,00,000 customer bookings," said Rakesh Srivastava, managing director of Nissan India. Due to GDP growth and a normal monsoon, we anticipate that customer sentiment will remain positive going forward. The industry anticipates high single-digit growth between FY2023 and FY2024.

After opening two showrooms and workshops in Karnal (Haryana) and Khammam (Telangana) in April, Nissan increased the number of customer touchpoints on its network to 267.