The country’s leading auto makers Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor reported a 7 and 14 per cent decline in dispatches to dealers in March as shortage of electronic components impacted production.

Tata Motors, Skoda and Kia India posted their highest ever monthly wholesales last month. Toyota Kirloskar Motor said its dispatches in March were the highest in the last five years while Mahindra & Mahindra also reported a robust increase in its passenger vehicle dispatches in March.

Maruti said its domestic dispatches in March declined 7 per cent to 143,899 units from 155,417 units in the year-ago period. For the full financial year 2021-22, the company posted a total sales of 16,52,653 units, a growth of 13 per cent over 2020-21.

“The shortage of electronic components had some impact on the production of vehicles in FY 2021-22. The company took all possible measures to minimise the impact. As the supply situation of electronic components continues to be unpredictable, it might have some impact on the production volume in FY 2022-23 as well,” MSI noted.

Rival Hyundai Motor India said its total sales declined by 14 per cent to 55,287 units in March, compared to the same month last year. The company had dispatched 64,621 units to its dealers in March 2021.

Tata Motors said its passenger vehicle sales in March were the highest ever in a month. The company reported wholesales of 42,293 units last month, up 43 per cent, from 29,654 units in March 2021.

Mahindra said its passenger vehicle dispatch rose 65 per cent to 27,603 units last month in the domestic market against 16,700 units in March 2021.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) reported total wholesales of 17,131 units in March, its best-ever monthly sales in five years. Last month, the company’s dispatches rose 14 per cent compared to 15,001 units in March 2021.

Automaker Kia reported its best-ever monthly sales in March at 22,622 units. The company said its wholesales last month increased by 18 per cent to 22,622 units compared to the same month last year.

Skoda Auto reported a five-fold increase in its sales at 5,608 units in March compared to 1,159 units in the same month last year. This is the highest ever sales volume clocked in a month by the automaker in its two-decade history in India.

The previous monthly high for the company was recorded in June 2012 when it had dispatched 4,923 units.

MG Motor India reported a 14.5 per cent decline in retail sales in March at 4,721 units, hit by supply chain constraints due to the new COVID-19 variant and the ongoing global semiconductor chip shortage. The company had retailed 5,528 units in March last year.