Indian automobile manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Skoda Auto and MG Motor released their passenger vehicles (PVs) wholesale data for December 2022 on Sunday, January 1, 2023.
Maruti Suzuki
India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki reported a 9 percent decline in total wholesales at 1,39,347 units in December 2022 compared to the year-ago month. The company, in a statement, revealed that it clocked a total sales of 1,53,149 units in December 2021.
Maruti Suzuki also revealed that its total domestic wholesales were 1,13,535 units in December 2022, down 9.91 percent compared to 1,26,031 units in the same month in 2021. According to the company, "The shortage of electronic components had some impact on the production of vehicles, mainly in domestic models. The company took all possible measures to minimise the effect."
The homegrown automaker also stated that sales of its mini cars - Alto and S-Presso - were lower at 9,765 units compared to 16,320 units in December 2021. Moreover, sales of Maruti's compact cars - Baleno, Celerio, Dzire, Ignis, Swift, Tour S and WagonR - were also lower at 57,502 units as against 69,345 units in December 2021.
Maruti's utility vehicles segment - Brezza, Ertiga, S-Cross, XL6 and Grand Vitara - saw higher sales at 33,008 units last month as against 26,982 units in December 2021.
Tata Motors
Tata Motors announced that it recorded overall sales at 72,997 units in December 2022, compared to 66,307 units during the same period last year. This includes both commercial vehicles (CVs) and passenger vehicles.
The company managed to sell 40,407 passenger cars, which includes 3,868 electric vehicles (EVs), in December 2022, an increase of 13.9 percent to December 2021. Tata Motors sold 35,462 units, including 2,355 EVs, in December 2021.
Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd. and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, said, "For Tata Motors passenger vehicles, CY22 has been a momentous year as we outpaced industry growth and crossed the distinctive milestone of 5 lakh units comfortably to post wholesale of 526,798 units."
He added, "We crossed the coveted 50,000 units of monthly retail for the first time. EVs posted their highest-ever sales in Q3FY23 at 12,596 units (growth of 116.2 percent) and crossed the landmark cumulative sales milestone of 50,000 units. Going forward, we expect the growth momentum for EVs to remain strong with their rising popularity and the announcement of progressive policies by several states."
The Tata Group company sold 32,952 CVs in the domestic market in December 2022, up 6.3 percent against 31,008 units in the same period last year. The company exported 995 units last month, down 68.3 percent compared to 3,143 units in December 2021.
MG Motor
MG Motor India reported a 53 percent rise in retail sales at 3,899 units in December 2022 against 2,550 units in the same month in 2021. It added that sales of the company's ZS EV recorded a growth of over 60 percent in 2022.
The company, in a statement, said, "The twin challenges of the pandemic and logistical headwinds have had an impact on production, but the coming month could see an improvement across many of these parameters."
MG Motor also revealed that it has continued to foster EV adoption in India through multiple industry partnerships, such as those for charging station installations with Jio-BP and BPCL.
As part of MG's drive to support the EV infrastructure in India, the company claims to install 150 chargers across the country.
