Growing competition in India’s booming SUV market sees Tata Motors post flat sales in July; growth in the first four months of FY2024 drops to single digit.
01 Aug 2023 | 3750 Views | By Ajit Dalvi
Tata Motors has reported wholesales of 47,689 units in July 2023, which makes for flat and zero growth year-on-year sales (July 2023: 47,636 units).
Growth clearly is slowing down for Tata Motors which has, for the past couple of years, witnessed strong double-digit gains albeit on a lower year-ago ...
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Tata Motors has reported wholesales of 47,689 units in July 2023, which makes for flat and zero growth year-on-year sales (July 2023: 47,636 units).
Growth clearly is slowing down for Tata Motors which has, for the past couple of years, witnessed strong double-digit gains albeit on a lower year-ago base. Nonetheless, given the average monthly sales of 45,365 units on its best-ever fiscal year sales of 544,391 units in FY2023, the car and SUV maker is currently averaging monthly sales of 47,034 units in the April-July 2023 period. From the data table below, one can see that the double-digit growth of April has reduced to single digit in May and June and to nil in July.
Tata Motors is among the few passenger vehicle OEMs with multiple powertrains spanning petrol, diesel, CNG and electric and currently has a seven-model portfolio comprising four SUVs (Nexon, Punch, Harrier, Safari), two hatchbacks (Tiago and Altroz) and one sedan (Tigor).
On the electric vehicle market front, the company sold a total of 6,329 EVs, up 53% (July 2022: 4,151 units). While it retains a first-mover advantage in this segment, the company is seeing new competition. While the Mahindra XUV400 is the first real rival to the Nexon EV, Hyundai Motor India’s recently launched Exter mini-SUV is squarely targeted at the Tata Punch. And MG has, earlier this year, rolled out the Comet EV as a rival to the Tata Tiago EV.
With the just-launched Exter, Hyundai has signalled its intention to take the battle into Tata Motors’ camp, hoping to outpunch the Punch in the numbers game. But expect Tata Motors to maintain the successful five-pronged strategy it has deployed for the past few years – an aspirational product portfolio, EV network and ecosystem development, front-end reimagination, operational debottlenecking and product quality enhancement.
Last month saw Tata introduce two new trims on its Altroz premium hatchback – XM & XM(S) – that are available only with the 1.2 petrol-manual powertrain and priced at Rs 690,000 and Rs 735,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi), respectively.
The going may be slow right now but starting this festive season, Tata Motors has outlined launch plans for around half-a-dozen models, including facelifts and new powertrain options. While the petrol-engined Punch will get CNG and electric siblings, the Nexon, Harrier and Safari are slated to receive mid-cycle enhancements. And the Nexon EV too is headed for a facelift.
Will these moves help Tata to up the ante versus the growing competition? We'll have to wait to find out.
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