Car Sales December 2020: Tata Registers Highest Quarterly Passenger Vehicle Sales In 8 Years

Tata Motors announced its sales report for December 2020 and the automaker's quarterly sales in the Passenger Vehicle (PV) sector stood at 68,803 units between October and December 2020. The company registered a massive growth of 89 per cent, as compared to Q3 FY2020 when it sold 36,354 units. This is Tata's highest-ever quarterly results for passenger vehicles in 33 quarters or over eight years. Meanwhile, the automaker's PV sales for December 2020 stood at 23,545 units, a hike of 84 per cent when compared to 12,785 units sold in December 2019.

Tata's total domestic sales (passenger + commercial vehicles) stood at 53,430 units last month, a growth of 21 per cent, as against 44,254 units sold in December 2019. The third quarter of FY2021 saw the automaker collectively sell 150,958 units, witnessing a hike of 24 per cent over 121,463 units sold during Q3 FY2020.

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The Tata Tiago and the Nexon remain the growth drivers for the company's PV sales

The explosive growth in PV sales comes on the back of a strong product portfolio comprising the Tiago, Tigor, and Nexon facelifts, and newer models like the Harrier, and the Altroz. The company also registered the highest-ever wholesale for the Nexon EV with 1253 units in Q3 FY2021, while 418 units were sold in December 2020 alone. The automaker further said that retail sales were up by 18 per cent than wholesale and the pipeline inventory remains thin.

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Speaking on the strong sales growth for PVs, Shailesh Chandra, President, PVBU - Tata Motors said, "The PV industry continued to grow robustly in Q3FY21, owing to pent up demand, strong festive season and shift towards personal mobility. Tata Motors PV Business has been witnessing strong response for its 'New Forever' range, which is being supported by continuous ramp up of supplies. In Q3FY21, PV business posted a growth of 89 per cent as compared to Q3FY20 - highest ever sales in last 33 quarters. We are continuing to debottleneck the supply chain and ramp up our output to meet the increased demand while addressing the availability of electronic components."

The M&HCV and I&LCV segments have shown strong recovery and grew by 20% and 8% respectively in December 2020

Meanwhile, the commercial vehicle segment saw the M&HCV witness strong growth with a 20 per cent hike in sales. The automaker sold 8377 units last month, as against 6957 units in December 2019. The Intermediate and light commercial vehicle (I & LCV) segment also grew by eight per cent with 4619 units sold in December, as opposed to 4290 units sold during the same month a year before. The SCV cargo and pickup segment volumes declined by five per cent. Tata's total domestic CV sales dropped by five per cent at 29,885 units in December 2020. Exports in December 2020 increased by 14 per cent to 2984 vehicles.

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Girish Wagh, President, CVBU - Tata Motors Ltd. said, "Tata Motors' Commercial Vehicle domestic sales in Q3FY21 at 82,155 units was 48% higher than the previous quarter and recovered to be broadly in line with Q3FY20 ( - 3.5%). M&HCVs and ILCVs led the recovery, growing by 10% and 7% respectively over Q3FY20, with higher demand in infrastructure including road construction, mining and e-commerce. The offtake continued to be higher than retail to support sequential month on month growth in retail while ensuring healthy inventory levels in the pipeline. We continue to monitor and work on the supply chain to improve availability, especially of electronic components, which impacted the output at the end of Q3."

Tata Motors has a product offensive planned in 2021 that includes both SUVs as well as electric offerings. The brand will launch the Altroz turbo petrol on January 13, 2021, which will be followed up with the Tata Gravitas SUV in this quarter itself. The automaker also has the HBX micro-SUV in the works for later this year along with the Altroz EV and the Tigor EV facelift.