Car sales inch in July after a two -month malaise; Industrial pins hopes for festive cheers

The sale of domestic passenger vehicles rose by around 1%in July, which marked a slight recovery after two consecutive months of decline, in the midst of continuing slow consumer demand.

Companies are cautiously optimistic that sales will continue to accelerate during the coming festive season, starting with Onam in August.

No fewer than 348,000 cars, sedans and utility vehicles were sent from factories to dealers last month, compared to 344,000 vehicles in July 2024, according to estimates from the industry. The retail trade was around 328,000 vehicles last month.

At the largest car manufacturer in the country Maruti Suzuki, wholesale volumes were largely unchanged last month on 137,776 vehicles. Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer (Marketing and Sales) said that while Maruti has seen an increase in bookings prior to the party season, starting with Onam in Kerala, conversions are slow.

“Growth in rural markets that was around 10% last year has now fallen to 2-3%. In urban areas, with fired in the IT sector, his buyers are careful,” said Banerjee, and added: “We have, however, seen an increase in bookings that is a positive sign.”

“With the arrival of the holidays, such as stabilizing things, we expect that the moment of demand will pick up,” said Banerjee. Maruti Suzuki has so far registered an increase of 10% in bookings in Kerala. The Korean rival Hyundai Motor India also saw sales fall by 10% to 43,973 vehicles in July. Tarun Garg, Chief Operating Officer, said: “Although the overall car -industry has seen some softness in recent months, we remain optimistic with the start of the festive season and we are fully tailored to robust range and product offers.” In the meantime, Tata Motors saw the sale of passenger vehicles decreasing last month by 12% to 39,521. Toyota Kirloskar Motor also fell by 1.2% to 29,159 vehicles in July.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and JSW MG Motor India belonged to the few who recorded the slowness trend in the industry and in July an increase in wholesale volumes. While the turnover at Mahindra climbed 20% to 49,871 vehicles, JSW MG recorded an increase of 46% for 6,678 vehicles.

Naliniikh Gollagunta, CEO (Automotive Division) at M&M said: “Our SUV growth is supported by the recent launch of XUV 3xo ‘Revx’ Series & The Start of Levers for Pack Two variants of the BE 6 and XUV 9th models.”

In the commercial vehicle segment, market leader Tata Motors achieved a revenue growth of 4% on 26,432 units in July. Ashok Leyland, based in Chennai, registered a comparable increase from 4% to 13,501 units, while the sale of VE-business vehicles from the Eicher Merkwagen and buses brand grew by 6% to 6,410 units.

The sale of two -wheelers remained healthy in the course of the month. At TVS Motor Company, the Domestic Two -Wheeler Sales in July increased by 21% to 308,720 units. Royal Enfield reported a growth of 25% on 76,254 units.

In the segment of the agricultural equipment, market leader M&M sold 26,990 tractors last month, an increase of 5% compared to a year earlier.

“These achievements were driven by persistent land preparation activities, supported by robust cash flows in rural markets after the conclusion of harvesting Rabi crops,” said Veejay Nakra, president (company company for farms) at M&M. “Moreover, the normal progression of monsoon in most regions has contributed further to a good question during the start of sowing for the Kharif season.”