Tata Motors increases UV market share to 19 percent

Tata Motors continues to expand its share in the utility vehicle (UV) market. A company that has taken a leading role in Q1 FY 2023 (April-June 2022) with wholesale sales of 97,943 UVs, continues to stay on top ahead of Maruti Suzuki India and Mahindra & Mahindra. In just four months, the company jumped to the #1 position – Tata was the #3 UV OEM in FY2022 with sales of 226,151 units and a 15.19% share of the UV market.

With total shipments of 118,449 units in the first four months of FY2023, Tata Motors registered strong year-on-year growth of 157% (April-July 2021: 46,077) and significantly increased its share of the UV market to 18.73% from 10.84% ​​a year ago. Achieving this in an extremely competitive market environment is certainly commendable and shows the growing demand for the company’s SUVs – Nexon, Nexon EV, Punch, Harrier and Safari. The Harrier and Safari premium SUVs seem to have suffered with the introduction of the Mahindra XUV700, a product that has come out on top in terms of overall performance and technology.

Where the company has an edge over its competitors is in its electric vehicles, particularly the Nexon EV – India’s best-selling EV, which currently has no real competition. That means to September 8, when Mahindra will launch its all-electric XUV400.

The market leader of passenger cars Maruti Suzuki currently ranks second with 104,124 UVs shipped in April-July 2022 (up 13% year-on-year), 14,325 units behind Tata Motors and just 850 units ahead of the #3 player Mahindra & Mahindra.

Like some other OEMs, Maruti Suzuki’s production was significantly affected by the chip supply chain crisis last year, but is expected to recover quickly with the launch of the new Brezza and mid-size Grand Vitara, which are expected to start shipping around the festive season. However, the figures show that the company has lost a significant share of the UV market – it currently stands at 16.47%, compared to 21.71% in April-July 2021. The company is believed to have an order backlog of 387,000 units.

Utility engineering major Mahindra & Mahindra ranks third and behind Maruti with 103,274 units, up 63% YoY. The company, which has a backlog of 273,000 units, increased its UV market share to 16.33% from 14.91% a year ago. In FY2022, M&M had a share of 15% (223,682 units) in India’s UV market. With the flurry of new models like the Scorpio-N, Scorpio Classic and huge demand for the XUV700 and Thar, M&M will look to ramp up production at its plants.

Hyundai Motor India, like Maruti Suzuki, lost UV market share from 18.81% a year ago to the current 15.63%. The OEM shipped 98,859 units in April-July 2022, a 24% year-over-year increase. The Creta continues to be its mainstay with 50,039 units and accounts for 50.61% of the UF’s total sales. Next is The Venue with 39,013 units, followed by Alcazar (9,243). The Tucson and Kona EV totaled 564 units in the April-July period.

Hyundai’s Korean sibling Kia is in fifth place with 83,783 units, up 46% year-on-year, giving it a market share of 13.25%, slightly down from 13.45% a year ago.

Toyota Kirloskar engine has put on a strong show over the past four months. With 51,040 units, it recorded 112% year-on-year growth and increased its share of the UV market to 8.07% from 5.66% a year ago. The popular Innova Crysta MPV with 22,783 units remains its bestseller and accounted for 44% of sales, followed by the Urban Cruiser with 18,677 units and 37%. The Bach Fortuner and the luxury MPV Vellfire made up the balance at 9,580 units.

Skoda Auto India from it Kushak and Volkswagen India with Taigun are the other UV players who have benefited from the launch of new models. Skoda, with 9,648 units, increased its market share to 1.52% from 0.42% a year ago, while VW India, with 7,000 units, now has a 1.1% share, up from 0.14% a year ago.

Top 10 UV in April-July
Here are the top 10 selling UVs for the first four months of FY2023, accounting for 63% of total UV sales (601,662 units). Tata Nexon leads the chart with 56,594 units or 9.4% of the total industry sales. It is the only model that has an EV option and that gives it an edge.

With 50,039 units, the Hyundai Creta has overtaken the No. 2 model in April-June, the Maruti Ertiga, which is now in third place with 47,232 units.

Manufacturers of complete equipment are waiting for holiday pay
SUVs are a growth story that only gets better every day. Of the 15 OEMs in the fray, only three show a decline in sales between April and July 2022. A close look at the wholesale data shows that the growth in UV light demand in India is a matter of democratization.

With every second car sold in India being a utility vehicle, there is room for everyone, provided the offering meets the right requirements. While the top six UV manufacturers account for 88.5% of the market, there is fierce competition for the remaining 11.5%.

Given the significant backlog of UV orders for Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra and Hyundai, the marked improvement in semiconductor supply should see OEMs rapidly ramping up production to make the most of the festive season that begins later this month.

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