September auto sales show Indian auto manufacturers are almost back at pre-COVID levels — commercial vehicles continue to lag

Despite the historic zero sales in the first month of this fiscal year, the automotive industry has recovered faster than expected. While most OEMs have posted double digit growth in passenger vehicles and two wheeler segments for September 2020, commercial vehicles witnessed a single digit drop over the low base figures of 2019 

The largest seller of two-wheelers in India, Hero MotoCorp recorded total sales of 715,718 units in September 2020, which it claims to be the highest sales in a single month in the calendar year of 2020

Escorts, the rural demand continues to remain positive led by lower base of last year, pent-up demand from Covid-19 related lockdowns, and fundamentally positive macroeconomic factors.

Market leader Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) saw an uptick of 31% in its total (domestic + exports) sales, majorly riding on the entry-level mini segment models where the carmaker reported a growth at 111,459 units in the month of September 2020 over the same period last year. The company’s exports which were under stress until now also saw green shoots.

For H1 FY21 (April-September 2020), MSIL recorded a 36% decline in the domestic PV segment at 423,689 units as against 663,522 units in the same period last year.

commercial vehicle segment are still at all-time lows despite the healthy uptick in demand from the e-Commerce, FMCG and agriculture transport sectors. Owing to the absence of major infrastructure and construction projects, Covid fear of public transport and economic slowdown, light commercial vehicles (LCV) are expected to make better sales than heavy & medium commercial vehicles (M&HCV).