Car Sales October 2021: Maruti Suzuki Records Double-Digit Sales Decline

The semiconductor shortage issue has really played spoilsport this festive season. The largest carmaker in the country, Maruti Suzuki has recorded a year-on-year sales decline of 24.18 per cent selling 1,38,335 units last month as compared to 1,82,448 units it sold in the same month a year ago. And the double-digit drop in volumes is primarily attributed to the curtailment in production numbers due to chip shortage. In fact, the carmaker recorded a slump of 32.30 per cent in domestic sales selling 117,013 units in India last month as compared to 1,72,862 units sold in October 2020. Whereas surprisingly its exports numbers went up significantly by 122.42 per cent selling 21,322 units in the overseas markets as against 9,586 units sold in the same month last year.

Also Read: Maruti Suzuki Reports Delivery Backlog Of Over 2 Lakh Cars Due To Chip Shortage

Compact cars like the Swift, Baleno and Dzire among others have witnessed huge sales decline.

In a statement, the company said, "While the shortage of electronic components continued to affect the production of vehicles during the month, the company took all possible measures to minimise the impact. Accordingly, the company sold more vehicles than the sales volume expected at the start of the month." However, Maruti Suzuki still managed to sell more numbers of utility vehicles (SUVs + MPVs) in October 2021 and record a humble growth in the UV segment as compared to passenger cars where it has recorded a steep decline.

Also Read: Maruti Suzuki To Launch An EV Likely By 2025; Current Focus On CNG And Flex Models

The company has managed to record a growth in UV sales.

The sales of the UV segment with models like the Vitara Brezza, S-Cross, Ertiga and XL6 witnessed an uptick of 6.63 per cent at 27,081 units as compared to 25,396 units sold a year ago. Sales in the vans segment dropped by 22.45 per cent selling 10,320 units as compared to 13,309 units sold a year ago. Now coming to the passenger car segment, it's witnessed a decline of 42.70 per cent at 71,590 units as compared to 1,24,951 units sold in October last year. The company sold 21,831 units of entry-level mini cars like the Alto and S-Presso which is a de-growth of 23.29 per cent when compared to 28,462 units sold in the same month last year. 48,690 units of subcompact cars like Swift, Dzire, Baleno and WagonR among others were sold, recording a slump of 48.78 per cent as compared to 95,067 units sold a year ago.

Even sales of the Ciaz compact sedan took a plunge at 1,069 units as compared to 1,422 units, down by 24.82 per cent. However, sales of the Super Carry LCV went slightly up by 19.81 per cent selling 3,797 units as compared to 3,169 units sold a year ago. And finally, sales of models like the Toyota Glanza and Toyota Urban Cruiser supplied to the Japanese carmaker were also down by 30.01 per cent selling 4225 units as against 6037 units which were supplied in the same month last year.