The auto industry is projected to sell 4.3 million units in 2024-25, an increase of 2.3 per cent from this fiscal, according to forecasts of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.

The industry is expected to close sales at 4.2 million units in 2023-24 posting a full-year growth of 8 per cent. The year-to-date (YTD) sales from April 2023 to February 2024 stood at 3.8 million units.

Sources in the industry predicted growth will be stymied in the coming year because of a high base.

“We have witnessed high growth figures in 2023-24 because of the previous low base due to semiconductor shortages, and supply chain issues. As supply has normalised, pent-up demand has been met leading to high growth. Going forward, it will be difficult to sustain such high growths” said an industry veteran.

The April-to-February wholesale figures stood at 38.59 lakh units against 35.53 lakh unit sales in the same period in 2022-23 posting a growth of 8.6 per cent.

The retail growth was even higher. The retail numbers till February stood at 37.72 lakh compared with 34.52 lakh for the same period in 2022-23 posting a growth of 9.2 per cent.

The industry wholesales in February this year stood at 3,73,177 units compared with February 2023 sales of 3,35,324 units posting a growth of
11.3 per cent.

This is the third highest sales in a month after January 2024 sales of 3,94,500 units and October 2023 sales of 3,91,814 units.

The industry retail figures for February 2024 stood at 335,900 units compared with 301,900 units a year ago, a growth of 11.3 per cent.

Due to low retail compared with wholesale, 40,000 units were added to stocks increasing the inventory level to 300,000 units at the end of February 2024, which translates to 25-26 days of stock.

Going forward, OEMs will be cautious in pushing wholesale stocks to dealers as the optimum stock levels are 30 days, said Maruti senior executive officer Shashank Srivastava during his month-end sales briefing.

When asked if companies will resort to discounting, Srivastava said, “Since discounting is a factor of low retail and high stocks, companies will try to lure customers with attractive deals to clear stocks.”

Maruti reported sales of 16.07 lakh units in February against 14.71 lakh a year ago,
a growth of 9 per cent. The company increased its market share to 41.8 per cent from 41.5 per cent.

“We crossed the 1.6 million mark this month. We expect to do about 42.1 lakh sales for the full year of 2023-24. The SUV contribution to our sales for this year stood at 50.5 per cent,” said Srivastava.

Hyundai Motor India registered sales of 60,501 units in February posting a growth of 6.8 per cent.

Tata Motors sold 86,406 vehicles in India and abroad compared with 79,705 units a year ago.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd sales stood at 72,923 vehicles, a growth of 24 per cent, including exports.