India car sales analysed: August 2020

The month of July had brought in a ray of hope for car manufacturers in India. And now August has further shown improvement with a substantial rise in sales for most of the major manufacturers in the country. A total of 2, 34,142 passenger vehicle units were sold in India in August 2020, thereby registering a sales growth of 19.6 per cent as compared to August 2019. Apart from the relaxation in lockdown regulations, the recently concluded festivals of Ganesh Chaturthi and Onam have further boosted sales for the passenger vehicles.

The country’s largest car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki continues to take the lead position with 1,13,033 units sold in India in August as compared to 93,173 units sold in the same period last year, thereby witnessing a growth of 21.3 per cent. Some of the key contributors to the cumulative sales figure are – Swift (14, 869 units), Alto (14, 397 units), Wagon R (13,770 units), Dzire (13,629 units), Ertiga (9,302 units) and the Eeco (9,115 units). As compared to the same period last year, all the above-mentioned cars have registered sales growth by 19 per cent, 42 per cent, 21 per cent, three per cent,11 per cent and five per cent, respectively.   

Hyundai takes the second position in terms of cumulative sales with 45, 809 units sold in August as compared to 38,205 units sold in the same period last year, thereby witnessing a growth of 19.9 per cent. Some of the popular selling models for Hyundai in the last month are – Creta (11,758 units), Grand i10 (10,190 units), and the Elite i20 (7,765 units). All the three cars have witnessed good increment in sales by 96 per cent, eight per cent, and 10 per cent, respectively. The sales for the Hyundai Venue has fallen by 12 per cent with 8,267 units sold in the country last month as compared to 9,342 units sold in the same period. 

Tata Motors takes the third place with 18,583 unit sales in the country as against 7,316 units sold in August 2019. Interestingly, Tata Motors registered a massive 154 per cent growth in sales last month. The Tata Tiago (5,743 units) and the Nexon (5,179 units) have been the popular sellers with 89 per cent and 128 per cent growth in sales, respectively. The recently launched premium hatchback has registered sales of 4,951 units. 

Mahindra takes the fourth position with 13,407 unit sales last month as against 13,147 units sold in the same period last year, thereby registering a growth of two per cent. The Bolero and the Scorpio have been a considerable contributor to the company’s overall sales in August with 5,487 units and 3,327 units, respectively. 

Kia has registered 74 per cent sales growth in August with 10,853 unit sales as against 6,236 unit sales in the same period last year. Interestingly, of the total sales, 10,655 units are from the Seltos alone. Renault has witnessed 41.3 per cent sales growth with 8,060 units sold in August as against 5,704 units sold in August 2019. Among a list of manufacturers who have witnessed a growth in sales, MG Motor has registered 41.3 per cent growth in sales in August with 2,851 units sold as against 2,018 units sold in the same period last year.

Some of the car manufacturers have witnessed a drop in sales in August as compared to the same period last year. This includes – Honda (7,509 units), Toyota (5,555 units), Ford (4,731 units), Volkswagen (1,470 units), Skoda (1,003 units), Nissan (810 units) and FCA (468 units). 

In the last few years, the SUV segment has witnessed a substantial rise in sales. As evident from the sales numbers in the last few months, the competitive pricing, better features and more space continue to attract the buyers. Going forward, the entry-level segment will continue to hold more or less similar sales. Based on the growing sales in the last few months, car sales in the country are likely to improve in the festive seasons in the months to come.