Demonetisation drive hits December car sales; Maruti Suzuki posts 4.4% fall in volumes

Due to poor retail sales in November as a result of demonetisation and a significant increase in dealer inventory, car makers in the domestic market did not push much stock in December. Traditionally, the last month of the year was known to be the best time to buy vehicles since manufacturers want to push cars into the market to get rid of the inventory and dealers also offer significant discounts to draw customers.

India’s biggest car maker Maruti Suzuki registered a fall in wholesale volumes by 4.4% y-o-y to 1,06,414 units when compared to 1,11,333 units in the corresponding period of the last financial year.

Barring the mid-size sedan and the UV segment, most segments registered a decline in December. “While retail demand for our products was strong, our wholesale in December is as per our plan decided at the start of the year,”

said RS Kalsi, executive director, marketing & sales, Maruti Suzuki.

Hyundai Motor India, second largest car maker in India, posted a fall in wholesale volumes in December but overall in 2016, the South Korean company registered a rise in wholesale volumes by 5% to 5,00,537 units in the domestic market. This a record for Hyundai in India since it started operations in India.

“2016 has been an year of excellence for Hyundai in India achieving various milestones — celebrating 20 years in India, the roll out of 7 millionth car in November, crossing 5 lakh domestic sales and the fastest 50,000 unit sales in October,” said YK Koo, MD & CEO, Hyundai Motor India.

In the motorcycle segment, Royal Enfield posted a 41% y-o-y growth to 56,316 units in December compared to 40,037 units a year ago.

“We have continued to increase our production capacity and we have sold 4,88,262 units in April-December 2016, growing over 36% over the same period last year. Despite demonetisation, our order books continue to be well ahead of our ever increasing production capacity,” said Rudratej Singh, president, Royal Enfield.

Maruti Suzuki India Limited