Maruti Suzuki sells 133,702 units in February, down 2.3%

February was the eighth month of 11 months in FY2020 in which sales of the country's largest carmarker are in negative territory, mirroring the state of the passenger vehicle market.

By Ajit Dalvi

01 Mar 2020

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Maruti Suzuki sells 133,702 units in February, down 2.3%

The passenger vehicle market leader has announced its sales / despatches in February 2020 and they indicate that the drive in slow lane continues. With total sales of 133,702 units in the domestic market, sales are down 2.3% year on year (February 2019: 136,912).

For the 11-month April 2019-February 2020 period, cumulative PV sales are 1,338,106 units, down a sizeable 15.6% (April 2018-February 2019: 1,584,795). Of the 11 months, sales have been in negative territory for eight months (see stats below) with the other three showing marginal or little growth. With one month left to go for closure of FY2020, the carmaker's total PV sales are 145,031 units short of matching FY2019's 1,584,795 units. Will Maruti march in March 2020?

Sales in FY2020 (April '19-Feb '20)
April: 131,385 (-19.61%)
May: 121,018 (-25.06%)
June: 111,014 (-17.18%)
July: 98,274 (-35.52%)
August 2019: 93,173 (-36.1%)
September 2019: 110,454 (-27.1%)
October 2019: 139,121 (2.33%)
November: 139,133 (-3.3%)
December: 122,784 (2.5%)
January: 139,844 (0.3%)
February: 133,702 (-2.3%)

How Maruti's sales stack up in February
The entry level hatchback segment comprising of the Alto and S-Presso

saw despatches of 27,499 units, up 11.1% (February 2019: 24,751). Along with the UVs, it is the only sub-segment to notch growth for the company.

The six-member compact car lot – New Wagon R, Celerio, Ignis, Swift, Baleno and Dzire – which was showing growth in the past couple of months has seen a 3.9% decline last month with sales of 69,828 units (February 2019: 72,678).

Likewise, for the premium Ciaz sedan, sales remain down. In February 2020, at 2,544 units, they were down 17.5% (February 2019: 3,084).

Within the PV segment, the UV sub-segment is the sole one recording growth. Likewise for Maruti albeit the numbers could be better. Last month, the company sold a total of 22,604 UVs, up 3.5% YoY (February 2019: 21,834). Now with the petrol-engined Vitara Brezza on sale, expect UV numbers for Maruti to pick up.

Tough year for Maruti Suzuki and India PV Inc
India Auto Inc and India PV Inc have been facing challenging times right since the start of 2019. This is amply reflected in Maruti Suzuki's performance in the first 11 months of FY2020.

See the table below and you see that the company's sales are in negative territory in all vehicle segments and sub-segments, including exports. With more CNG models on the anvil, the recent launch of the 1.5-litre petrol Vitara Brezza, the planned production of the Suzuki Jimny from the Sanand plant (first for export and then domestic market) and some new products in the pipeline, FY2021 should be better than FY2020, which is clearly a forgettable year for the country's largest carmaker.