India’s automakers continue to increase production and wholesale of vehicles in July to meet demand for vehicles in the domestic and export markets. After the gradual unlocking of the economy due to steady reduction in cases of Covid-19, auto makers have been increasing wholesale to increase inventory at dealerships.
Mahindra and Mahindra increased vehicle dispatches by 91% to 21046 units as the company has swelling order book for its two products- Thar and XUV 500. The Mumbai based car maker’s production has been disrupted in the past few months due to shortage of semiconductors.
“More than 90% of our dealerships and workshops are now operational across the country. We have seen significant increase in activity levels, enquiries and as a result, sales across our product portfolio. We sold 42983 vehicles overall and registered a growth of 91% in the Passenger Vehicles segment, over same period last year. While supply of semiconductors continues to be a global issue and we are doing everything to address it on priority, July has been an exciting month for us with two new product launches,” said Veejay Nakra, chief executive officer, automotive division, M&M.
Pune-based Bajaj Auto – one of the country’s largest motorcycle manufacturers- increased domestic wholesales by just 2% to 156,232 units. while exports grew by 103% to 174,337 units, as more and more countries open their economies from restrictions to contain Covid 19. Domestic dispatches though remained subdued since channel inventory is already high and entry level motorcycle sales have taken a hit due to rising fuel and product acquisition costs.
The auto industry came under pressure from the first week of April when Maharashtra began strict lockdown measures. Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and others followed suit. Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp Ltd, Hyundai and others either stopped production or reduced output significantly.
Some like Bajaj Auto Ltd, however, continued to operate with limited capacity to meet export orders. With a steady drop in infections, especially in north and south India, most automakers have resumed operations from the middle of May.
With gradual improvement in economic activity, commercial vehicle dispatches by Ashok Leyland –country’s second largest manufacturer – also increased by 90% to 8129 units. The growth in dispatches though was registered on the low base of last year.
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