Sales Figures Reviews

Suzuki Motorcycle India concluded 2018 on a high registering a healthy growth in volumes for December. The Japanese bike maker sold 43,874 units in December 2018 in the domestic market, registering a growth of 33.82 per cent over the 32,786 units that were sold in December 2017. The two-wheeler maker has had a strong 2019 financial year so far with 545,683 units sold between April and December 2018, a growth of 30 per cent over the 420,736 units sold during the same period last fiscal. The company aims to cross the 7.5 lakh mark in sales by the end of the current financial year.

Erik Prince, who founded the private security company Blackwater, is launching a fund to invest in metals used in electric vehicle batteries, he told the Financial Times. The fund aims to raise up to $500 million and will invest in deposits of metals such as cobalt, copper and lithium, largely in Africa and Asia, he told the newspaper.

Carmakers in India are still recovering from the hit which car sales took from several headwinds in 2018. Automakers have been witnessing sluggish demand for the last four months which is been due to factors like rising fuel prices, onetime payment of insurance premium and a rise in interest rates. India's largest carmaker- Maruti Suzuki has recorded a marginal volume growth of 1 per cent in December 2018 selling 119,804 units of passenger vehicles against 118,560 Units in the same month last year. The growth was largely sustained by the Utility Vehicle (UV) segment as the Vitara Brezza continued to perform well. New models- the recently launched 2018 Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and 2018 Ciaz too remained in Demand. However, the mini and compact car segment which together constitutes a huge chunk of volumes witnessed muted sales which in-turn had a significant impact on volumes.

India's largest two-wheeler maker, Hero MotoCorp registered a drop of 4 per cent in sales for December 2018. The company sold 453,985 units last month, as against 472,731 units in December 2017. While sales saw a decline in the last month of 2018, the company had a positive year overall. Hero sold 80,39,472 two-wheelers between January and December 2018, surpassing expectations. In the first nine months of financial year 2019 between April and December, the manufacturer registered a sale of 60,37,901 units.

Ford Indias combined domestic wholesales and exports in December reached 24,420 vehicles compared to 29,795 vehicles in the same month last year. The company sold 5840 vehicles in December 2018 as against 5087 units in the same period last year. Exports dropped by a considerable margin as the company exported 18,580 vehicles compared to 24,708 units in December 2017.

TVS Motor Company registered a positive end to the last calendar year with a 6 per cent growth in December 2018 sales. The company sold 271,395 units last month, as against 256,870 units sold in December 2017. The manufacturer's sales performance was on the rise across all segments including two-wheelers by 4 per cent, three-wheelers by 37 per cent, while and 26 per cent for export operations. The company also recorded a 19 per cent hike in volumes for the third quarter (October-December 2018) for the current financial year, over the same period last year.

Bajaj Auto today released its sales numbers for the month of December 2018, registering a total growth of 31 per cent in two-wheeler sales. The company sold a total of 298,855 units in the last month of 2018, against the 228,762 units sold in December 2017.

Having posted consistent growth month-after-month throughout 2018, Royal Enfield ended the year with a decline in total sales for the month of December. The bike maker sold a total of (domestic + exports) 58,278 units in December 2018, a 13 per cent drop in volumes as opposed to 66,968 units sold during the same month in 2017. Royal Enfield's domestic sales stood at 56,026 units, a decline of 14 per cent over 65,367 sold in December 2017.