Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor report lower domestic sales in December

NEW DELHI: The two largest carmakers in the country — Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) and Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) — reported an over 4% fall each in domestic sales in December 2016 as the companies adjusted production to rationalise inventory at dealerships. Maruti sold 1,06,414 units, 4.4% less than the 1,11,333 units it sold in the year ago period, while Hyundai’s sales fell 4.3% to 40,057 units.

Maruti said the production in December was as per its internal plan. “While the retail demand for our products was strong, our wholesale (numbers) in December are as per our plan decided at the start of the year,” RS Kalsi, executive director (sales & marketing), MSIL, said. The company had shut down its facilities for a week in December for scheduled maintenance.

It had earlier said that the sale of its passenger vehicles, hit by demonetisation in November, was seeing a reversal in December. “Our bookings are up 7% in December compared to a decline of around 20% in November,” MSIL chairman RC Bhargava had said.

Maruti, with an order backlog of 1,00,000 units for premium compact Baleno and compact SUV Vitara Brezza, said it is on course to meet its annual production target of around 1.5 million units in 2016. Hyundai said that its wholesale sales for 2016 grew 5.2% despite the slight fall in December, helping it achieve the domestic sales milestone of 0.5 million units for the first time.

Maruti's December sales in the mini segment (Alto, WagonR) declined 15.3% to 31,527 units and in the compact car category (Swift, Ritz, Celerio, Baleno and Dzire) fell 8.6% to 47,354 units. Its mid-sized sedan Ciaz, however, sold 3,711 units, an increase of 30.6%, and the sale of its utility vehicles (Gypsy, Grand Vitara, Ertiga, S-Cross and compact SUV Vitara Brezza) surged to 16,072 units, up 75.3% from the corresponding month of 2015.

The company’s Japanese rival Toyota fared better, registering the highest sale in December in the last five years driven by new launches. It sold 12,747 units, a growth of 22%. “December is usually a high-selling month as most manufacturers try and liquidate the year-end stocks and come up with schemes offering huge discounts on products. In our case, we ensure a lean inventory at all times, both on our side as well as at the dealers and we have been able to maintain that in the year-end as well,” said N Raja, senior vice-president, sales & marketing, Toyota Kirloskar Motor.

In the motorcycle segment, Royal Enfield said it has posted a sales growth of 41% at 56,316 units. Its parent Eicher Motors’ commercial vehicle venture, however, was hit adversely by demonetisation, with sales falling 21% to 3,246 units.