Maruti Suzuki despatched fewer vehicles to dealers in December 2023 at 1.04 lakh units against 1.12 lakh units a year ago.

Sales from dealers, however, rose to 2.26 lakh units last month, an increase of 12.3 per cent from 2.01 lakh units a year ago.

The mixed trends in the wholesale and retail sides pushed up Maruti’s stocks in the sales channels to 45,000 on January 1 from 1.69 lakh units a month ago.

“We have just six to seven days of stock now,” said Shashank Srivastava, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd senior executive officer.

With a growth rate higher than that of the industry, the market share of Maruti rose to 42 per cent in 2023 from 41.6 per cent in 2022.

Hyundai Motor India Limited sold 56,450 units last month, comprising 42,750 units in domestic sales and 13,700 units in exports.

Tata Motors sold 43,675 units of passenger vehicles including EVs — domestic and export — posting a growth of 8 per cent over 40,407 units in December 2022.

Mahindra & Mahindra sold 35,174 units an increase of 24 per cent over December 2022 sales of 28,445 units.

Toyota Kirloskar Motors sold 22,867 units, a growth of 119 per cent over 10,421 units sold in December 2022.

The auto industry in calendar year 2023 crossed the four million milestone with retail sales touching 41.08 lakh. In 2022, the industry sold 37.92 lakh thus posting a growth of 8.3 per cent in 2023.

In December, industry wholesales rose 4.4 per cent to 2.87 lakh units from 2.25 lakh units a year ago.

Retail figures for December 2023 stood at 4.42 lakh units posting a growth of 7.8 per cent over sales of 4.10 lakh units in December 2022.

Stocks in the sales channels have come down to 176,500 units on January 1, 2024, from 331,000 plus units on December 1, 2023.

The share of SUVs in passenger vehicle sales rose 48.7 per cent in 2023 from 42 per cent in 2022, making it the fastest-growing segment.

Hatches contribution fell to 30 per cent from 34.8 per cent, sedans fell to 9.4 per cent from 11 per cent, and MPV share remained the same as last year at 8.7 per cent.

PLI scheme

The ministry of heavy industries on Monday announced the extension of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for automobile and auto components by one year with “partial amendments”.

The incentive will now be applicable for a total of five consecutive financial years, starting from 2023-24. The disbursement of the incentive will take place in the following financial year 2024-25.

The scheme also specifies that an approved applicant will be eligible for benefits for five consecutive years, but not beyond the year ending on March 31, 2028.

It will be eligible for benefits in the next year if it meets the threshold calculated on the basis of a 10 per cent year-on-year growth over the first year’s threshold.