Sales of auto majors decline owing to semiconductor shortage

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Owing to the shortage in semiconductors, leading carmakers Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai, witnessed a double-digit decline in sales in October. Kia India, Honda Cars and MG Motor also slipped in dispatches last month as compared to same time period last year. On the other hand, companies like Tata Motors, Mahindra, Nissan and Skoda managed to post positive numbers despite the supply challenges last month.

Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), the country’s largest carmaker said its domestic sales dipped by 32% to 1,17,013 units in October as against 1,72,862 units in the same month last year.

The auto major in a statement said that, while the shortage of electronic components continued to affect the production of vehicles during the month, the company took all possible measures to minimise the impact. Accordingly, the company sold more vehicles than the sales volume expected at the start of the month.

Mini cars comprising Alto and S-Presso sales, declined by 23% to 21,831 units as compared to 28,462 units in the same month last year.

Similarly, sales of compact segment, including models such as Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire, slumped 49 per cent to 48,690 units as against 95,067 cars in October last year.

In the utility vehicle segment, however sales of Vitara Brezza, S-Cross and Ertiga increased by 7% to 27,081 units as against 25,396 earlier.

Hyundai Motor India reported a 35% decline in domestic sales in October at 37,021 units. Back in October 2020, it had dispatched 56,605 units to dealers. The rival company of Maruti noted that the lobal semiconductor supply constraint continues to be a challenge, resulting in lower production across the industry.

Mahindra and Tata’s sales improve

At the wholesales level, Kia India saw a 22% decline on a YoY basis at 16,331 units in October, while Honda Cars were down by 25% in its domestic dispatches to 8,108 units.

Due to the semi conductor shortage, MG Motor India’s retail sales dipped by 24% to 2,863 units in October amid production challenges.

In the domestic market, homegrown auto company Mahindra & Mahindra said its passenger vehicle sales stood at 20,130 units, which increased by 8% from 18,622 units in the year-ago period. The supply chain issues around semiconductor related parts continues to be dynamic as the company focuses on managing the situation in the short term.

Similarly, Tata Motors passenger vehicles’ dispatches in the domestic market increased by 44% at 33,925 units in October as against 23,617 units in the same month last year.