While OEMs are working with suppliers to mitigate the impact of the chips shortage, they will hope that footfalls will increase as the Omicron impact shows signs of tapering out.
02 Mar 2022 | 4713 Views | By Autocar Pro News Desk
Semiconductor shortages continues to plague India's automobile industry as leading OEMs including Maruti Suzuki, Toyota, Hyundai, Royal Enfield, Honda saw their production getting impacted which led to reduced wholesale dispatches in February 2022 as compared to the same month last year.
However, some like Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Tata Motors, ...
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Semiconductor shortages continues to plague India's automobile industry as leading OEMs including Maruti Suzuki, Toyota, Hyundai, Royal Enfield, Honda saw their production getting impacted which led to reduced wholesale dispatches in February 2022 as compared to the same month last year.
However, some like Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Tata Motors, MG Motor and Skoda were able to post higher wholesale numbers during the comparable period.
While OEMs are working with suppliers to mitigate the impact of the chips shortage, they will hope that footfalls will increase as the Omicron virus shows signs of tapering out. It also remains to be seen if the government decides to hike fuel prices given the situation in Ukraine, and crude crossing the $100 mark. The assembly results are due on March 10 and that is another aspect to be factored in.
Here are the OEM wise sales breakup for February
Maruti Suzuki
Maruti Suzuki sold a total of 164,056 units in February 2022. Total sales in the month include domestic sales of 137,607 units, sales to other OEMs of 2,428 units and its highest ever monthly exports of 24,021 units. The company’s total sales in February 2021 were 164,469 units. The shortage of electronic components had a minor impact on production of vehicles, primarily sold in the domestic market. In a press note, the company said it would take all possible measures to minimise the impact.
In the mini and compact segment, Maruti sold 97,486 units in the month as against 104,476 units in the year-earlier month. Models in this segment include the Alto, S-Presso, Wagon R, Swift, Ignis Dzire and Baleno. In the UV segment, sales were 25,360 units as against nearly 27,000 units in the year-earlier month. The models in this segment include Ertiga, Gypsy, S-Cross, Vitara Brezza, XL6. The Super Carry LCV sold 3,659 units in the month.
Hyundai Motor
Hyundai Motor India recorded domestic sales of 44,050 units and export sales of 9,109 units with cumulative sales of 53,159 units for February 2022.The company sold 61,800 units in February last year so this month’s wholesales are 14 percent less. In a press statement, the company said that as the industry continues to grapple with the semiconductor shortage and that with its partners, the company is continuously exploring alternatives to ensure customers can take delivery of their cars.
Tata Motors
Tata Motors reported its domestic wholesales growing by 27 percent to 73,875 units in February, 2022 as against 58,366 units during corresponding month previous year. These numbers include sales in the passenger vehicle segment which grew by significantly by 47 percent to 39,981 units during the month under consideration in comparison to the 27,225 units recorded during the same month in 2021. Out of the total, the electric cars contributed 2,846 units as against 492 units reported earlier.
Mahindra & Mahindra
Mahindra & Mahindra had overall auto sales for February 2022 at 54,455 vehicles. In the UV segment, the OEM sold 27,551 vehicles in February 2022. The passenger vehicles segment (which includes UVs, Cars and Vans) sold 27,663 vehicles in February 2022. Exports for the month were at 2,814 vehicles. In the Commercial Vehicles segment, Mahindra sold 20,166 vehicles in February 2022, up 119 percent. All the Light Commercial Vehicle Segments of <2T, Pickups (2T to 3.5T), >3.5T and the heavy commercial vehicles continued their robust growth trajectory in February 2022.
Volkswagen
Volkswagen Passenger Cars India registered wholesales of 4,028 units in February 2022- a jump of close to 84 percent over corresponding period last year, which the company claims is its strongest in the past four years. The company management believes that the positive momentum will be further heightened with the launch of Virtus slated for its World Premiere on 8 March 2022. Ashish Gupta, Brand Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India said, “The strong performance witnessed in Feb’22 is a testament to the right product strategy developed for the Indian market.”
Skoda Auto India
Skoda Auto (India) registered sales of 4,503 units for February 2022, up 428 percent compared to similar period last year when it had reported wholesales of 853 units. The uptick in sales was primarily driven by Kushaq launched in July 2021, the company said. Zac Hollis, Brand Director, Skoda India, said, "This is the perfect platform for our newest family members, the Slavia 1.0 TSI and the Slavia 1.5 TSI sedans to arrive and drive us to even greater heights in the coming months.”
MG Motor
MG Motor India has announced its retail sales for February 2022 came at 4,528 units, a growth of 5 percent YoY. The OEM is witnessing healthy bookings thanks to its recent launches including the tech-laded MG Astor. MG Motor India said demand remains robust as it has garnered a healthy booking pace and is experiencing a promising growth momentum even as it manages supply chain constraints. Besides this, Hector and Gloster also continued to witness good sales trends.
Nissan
Nissan India reported a 57 percent growth in its wholesales to 6662 units in February as compared to 4244 units in February last year. Out of the total vehicles dispatched, 2456 units were for the domestic market while the rest were for exports.
Rakesh Srivastava, Managing Director, Nissan Motor India said that while the demand for the Magnite continues to grow in India and overseas markets, the challenge is on the supply side with shortages of semiconductors, which he says will continue for a few more months even as the company continues to work with suppliers to improve its availability. Attributing the increased sales in the domestic market to the Magnite, the company said the car has got over 88,000 bookings with 31 percent of them generated through the digital ecosystem.
Honda Cars
Honda Cars India recorded monthly domestic sales of 7,187 units in February 2022. The export numbers for the company stood at 2,337 units in February 2022. The company had registered 9,324 units in domestic sales and 987 units of export in February 2021.
Toyota
Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) said its February 2022 sales fell by 38 percent to 8745 units in February 2022 as compared to the year-earlier period when it dispatched 14,075 units to dealerships in the domestic market.
On a monthly basis, the company reported 19 percent as against 7,328 units recorded in January 2022. Atul Sood, AVP, Sales and Strategic Marketing, TKM, said, “There is a consistent rise in order bookings, especially for the Innova Crysta as well as the Fortuner and as a next step, we are looking forward to catering to the pending orders on our side.”
Royal Enfield
Royal Enfield posted domestic wholesales of 52,135 units in February 2022, a drop of 20 percent as against sales of 65,114 units during the same period last year due to apparent headwinds from semiconductor shortages. The company’s management however maintained that it continues to see recovery in the domestic market with increase in volume growth over last month. Royal Enfield had sales of 49,726 units in the domestic market in January this year. "Supply chain constraints due to the shortage of semiconductor chips continued to persist during the month and Royal Enfield is assiduously working with its supplier ecosystem to resolve the same, the company said in a statement.
TVS Motor
TVS Motor Company registered a drop of 5 percent in total wholesales to 2,81,714 units in February 2022 in comparison to corresponding period last year when it had posted 2,97,747 units. The company in a statement said, " The shortage in chips supply impacted the production and sales of premium two-wheelers.”
Total two-wheelers registered sales of 267,625 units in February 2022 as against sales of 284,581 units in February 2021. Domestic two-wheeler registered sales of 173,198 units in February 2022 as against sales of 195,145 units in February 2021. Within the overall sales, the motorcycle segment grew by 5 percent increasing from 137,259 units in February 2021 to 143,523 units in February 2022. Scooter sales of the company registered 86,616 units in February 2022 as against sales of 95,525 units in February 2021. Three-wheeler sales grew by 7 percent from 13,166 units in February 2021 to 14,089 units in February 2022. The company's total exports grew by 6 percent from 101,789 units in February 2021 to 107,574 units in February 2022. Two-wheeler exports grew by 6 percent from 89,436 units in February 2021 to 94,427 units in February 2022.