Carmakers are preparing for a record-breaking festive season, encouraged by the easing of supply concerns, a wave of new launches, and strong demand leading up to the festival period starting with Onam and Raksha Bandhan later this month, and concluding with Diwali and Bhai Dooj in November. This season is expected to see the release of more than a dozen new models, including facelifts, with industry estimates predicting deliveries to reach a million units – the highest ever – during the three-month period. Close to 843,000 cars were sold during the festive season in FY23, up from 788,000 the previous year. In FY21, retail sales had reached 935,000 units due to high pent-up demand following the Covid-19 pandemic.
“A consistent improvement in semiconductor supplies, coupled with strong demand and new launches, are expected to drive record retail sales in the industry,” said Shashank Srivastava, senior executive officer of marketing and sales at Maruti Suzuki India.
The country’s largest carmaker has experienced rapid sales growth in recent months, attributed to new launches in the SUV segment. As of September 8, it had received orders for 339,000 units. Typically, the festive period accounts for a quarter of carmakers’ annual sales.
In anticipation of a strong start to the season, carmakers dispatched 351,000 units to dealers in July, the highest monthly dispatch ever recorded, despite it being a typically slow period.
Tarun Garg, chief operating officer of Hyundai Motor India, stated that the South Korean carmaker aims to capitalize on the festive season with a series of new launches, the latest being the micro-SUV Exter. Garg expressed confidence in a successful season, citing strong Onam bookings and rapidly increasing Exter bookings.
“Stock levels at Hyundai dealerships have returned to normal – 20 days, after dropping to 10-12 days in the same month last year. A surge in fresh bookings is boosting overall confidence,” said Garg.
As of September 9, Hyundai already had 110,000 units booked. Shailesh Chandra, managing director of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, predicts single-digit growth for the industry this season, primarily driven by new launches. “We expect good festive sales this year, starting with Onam,” Chandra added. Tata Motors will continue to introduce new products and variants regularly to maintain consumer interest.
Led by the introduction of new models ahead of the season, the share of utility vehicle models measuring more than four meters in length increased to 39.2% of total passenger vehicle models in June, compared to 37% at the end of the 2022 festival season. During that time, the total number of models in the PV segment was 81, up from 78 at the beginning of the year. Veejay Nakra, president of the automotive division at Mahindra and Mahindra, expects SUVs to continue outpacing the broader passenger vehicle industry in terms of growth. “With our large SUVs experiencing strong market demand and our increased production capacity plans, we anticipate another exciting festive season this year,” he said.
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