Auto Sales In March 2022: Hero MotoCorp Sales Drop 22%, TVS Motor Falls By 4.55%

India's largest two-wheeler manufacturer, Hero MotoCorp Ltd. sold 3,58,254 units in March, the company said in an exchange filing. While Hero MotoCorp's sales fell 22% over the same period last year, but it rose 25.62% over the preceding month.

The company now expects the sale momentum to build up with the gradual withdrawal of Covid19 restrictions and reopening of all the sectors of economy.

Sales Snapshot (Y-o-Y)

• Motorcycle sales fell by 19% to 4,25,721 units.

• Scooter sales too declined 53.3% to 24,433 units.

• Exports however rose 5.4% to 34,390 units.

Sales of TVS Motor Company Ltd. fell 4.55% over the year-ago period to 3,07,954 units in March 2022, according to an exchange filing on Friday.

Two-Wheeler:

• March 2021: 3,07,397 units

• March 2022: 2,92,918 units

• Change: 4.71%

International Business:

• March 2021: 1,19,382 units

• March 2022: 1,09,724 units

• Change: 8.08%

During the fourth quarter of the financial year 2021-22, the company registered two-wheeler sales of 8.15 lakh units as against 8.87 lakh units registered in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

Shares of SML Isuzu Ltd. rose 20% after the company reported 43% YoY growth in total sales in March, according to the company's exchange filing and Bloomberg data.

Cargo Vehicles

• March 2021: 679 units

• March 2022: 698 units

• Change: 3%

Passenger Vehicles

• March 2021: 273

• March 2022: 665

• Change: 144%

Overall sales growth in FY22 was 47% higher than in FY21.

The company sold a total of 6,92,554 units in the year ended March 31, up 49% from the previous fiscal.

Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd.'s auto segment posted an overall sales of 54,643 units in March, a rise of 35% over the same period last year even as the company continue to closely monitor the chip shortage related parts crunch.

The sales, however, saw a marginal decline over the preceding month.

M&M's total passenger vehicle sales too rose 65% over the same period last year to 27,603 units on the back of strong demand of its new launches.

"Demand continues to be strong, even as we remain watchful of the global supply chain and take appropriate action, as required," Veejay Nakra, Chief Executive Officer, Automotive Division at M&M Ltd., said

The farm equipment segment however fell 4% over the same period last year to 29,763 units. The company however is confident for the demand to improve going forward.

"Record procurement of Kharif acreage, substantial increase in exports of agricultural products like wheat, sugar and cotton will help improve the financial position of the farmers leading to better cash flow in the rural market to help boost tractor demand going forward," Hemant Sikka, President of the Farm Equipment sector at M&M added.

The country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., reported a 2% rise in sales as it sold 1,70,395 units in March even as the chip shortage continues to hurt the production.

The company had sold 1,67,014 units in March last year. Maruti's sales also rose over the previous month.

Sales Snapshot (YoY)

• Exports more than doubled to 26,496 units.

• Mini and compact vehicle segment sales fell 8.46% to 97,805 units.

• Utility vehicle sales fell 4.69% to 25,001 units.

Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles, the commercial vehicle arm of Eicher Motors Ltd.'s total sales rose 25.1% to 8,803 units in March, the company said in an exchange filing. VECV had sold 7,037 units in the same month last year. Month-on-month, the sales rose 50.3%.

Sales Snapshot (YoY)

• Domestic sales rose 31% to 7,929 units.

• Exports fell to 652 units from 816 units.

MG Motor India, which is owned by China's SAIC Motor saw its sales fall 14.5% over the same month last year as the supply chain constraints due to new Covid19 variant and the ongoing global semiconductor chip shortage immensely impacted it sales.

The company sold a total of 4,721 units in March, it said in a statement. The sales, however, rose 4.2% over the preceding month.

The automaker said it continues to witness positive momentum in enquiries and bookings across its product portfolio, including Astor, Hector, Gloster, and the ALL-NEW ZS EV.

Escorts Ltd.’s tractor sales rose over the preceding month in March but fell year-on-year.

Tractor sales rose 65% month-on-month to 10,074 units, but fell 45.6% over the last year, the company said in an exchange filing. It sold 9,483 and 591 units in the domestic and overseas markets, respectively.

The company, however, sees recovery in the coming months due to higher Rabi output and good water level reservoirs, increased budget allocation to rural and agri sector, and positive forecast of 2022 monsoon season.