Industry overview for April 2014

According to a recent report issued by India Infoline Research (IIFL) team, the automobile industry continues to stay on the downward slope of sales, except for the two wheeler industry which notices a volume gain. Manufacturers continue to launch new products for the market showing their optimism, the fact still remains that not much to be going up. The consumer sentiment is hurt by attributes such as high interest rates, poor income growth and high fuel prices. The research by the company states the following data.

Passenger cars

Market leader Maruti reported weak set of volumes with a 12.6% yoy decline in domestic market. The key segments that pulled down the volumes were Mini segment which saw a 25.4% yoy decline and Super Compact segment which witnessed a 17.7% yoy fall. Compact segment saw a healthy 9.9% yoy growth driven by the successful launch of Celerio model. 4.4% yoy growth in exports was encouraging. MM saw its passenger UV segment report a 12.5% yoy decline, a decent performance when compared with Tata Motors UV segment which saw a 32.6% yoy slump. Passenger car volumes for Tata Motors were abysmal at 5,653 units a decline of 36.6% yoy.

Two wheelers

Two wheeler players continued to report a robust set of volume performance in the month of April 2014. Market leader Hero Motocorp reported a 14.4% yoy growth in volumes. TVS Motors reported a strong 10.9% yoy growth in its domestic volumes led by a 55.2% yoy jump in its total scooter sales. HMSI too reported another strong month with a jump of 20.8% yoy again led by scooters which saw a jump of 28.6% yoy. For Bajaj Auto its total motorcycle (domestic + exports) was flat when compared on a yoy basis clearly indicating a loss in market share in the domestic market.

Commercial vehicles

MHCV volumes for Tata Motors were down 15.8% yoy and LCV volumes plummeted 43.1% yoy. For MM its 4W pick up segment which competes with LCVs registered a 19% yoy decline. The only highlight was MTBL, MM's truck division, which saw a 6.5% yoy increase albeit at a very low base.

Three-wheelers

Three-wheeler volumes were weak for all players except TVS Motors which reported 59.2% yoy jump in volumes driven by 59.3% yoy jump in domestic sales and 59.2% jump in export volumes. Bajaj Auto reported total volume decline of 26.4% in the segment and MM reported 12.5% yoy fall.

Tractors

After a strong FY14, tractor volumes seem to be losing the sheen with MM reporting a 10.4% yoy decline in domestic volumes. Talks of El Nino hitting the monsoons in the current fiscal could have possibly delayed buying of tractors. Export volumes of MM were also lower by 16.9% yoy. Other major player Escorts also reported a fall of 18% yoy in tractor volumes.

Source: Company, India Infoline Research