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The Passenger Car Sales grew a meager 2.8% in FY19 (Apr’18-Mar’19) v/s FY18 (Apr’17-Mar’18). We had anticipated a growth of over 6% in this financial year; but the growth forecasts were dropped by >50% citing the falling demand, increasing interest rates and liquidity crunch. Not to forget the other deterrents which hampered the growth plans – Kerala Floods, Volatile Fuel costs and increasing Insurance costs. Even the channel partners (Car Dealers) saw their worst phase in the business where almost all brands were carrying excessive stocks. Let us see the YoY performance comparison of the OEMs –
Interesting to see that the Top 7 OEMs posted a positive growth in FY19 v/s FY18 and remaining all 5 OEMs registered a YoY de-growth!
While Tata posted the highest growth amongst all OEMs; It was Nissan+Datsun which seems to lost the track completely. It not only saw a slump of ~31% in terms of volumes; the new launch ‘Kicks’ too isn’t performing as per expectations.
Do note that Tata was the only OEM to register a double digit growth in FY19! Surprisingly Tata achieved this feat with only 1 new model Harrier which launched in this timeframe (that too at the fag end of the financial year). It is nice to see that Tata is not only focusing on new model launches; but equal significance is given to elevate their existing portfolio sales.
The growth for the Market Leader Maruti was supported by the Arena channel (6% YoY). Nexa struggled in previous FY and the sole dependence on Baleno is now showing up.
Hyundai could post a flat growth (2%) and this too was possible with the introduction of the iconic Santro. However Santro wasn’t exactly a successful launch; Hyundai is pinning its hopes on the launch of the Compact-SUV Venue to gain volumes this year.
Even with 2 new models launched this year (Marazzo & XUV300); Mahindra’s YoY growth was mere 1%!
Honda grew a healthy 8% in FY19 owing to the tremendous success of New Amaze. With no new models in pipeline this year; it looks to be a difficult year for the Japanese major.
In terms of Market Share; Maruti gained the most! Maruti Suzuki’s Market Share increase by 1.2% in FY19 and the Market Leader could capture a Market Share of whopping 51.9% in the Indian market! Can the likes of Kia, MG & Citroen really challenge Maruti’s success run in India? Only time shall tell.