Indians bought more than 41 lakh cars in 2023, nearly half of them from Maruti

Passenger vehicle sales in India touched a record high of 41.08 lakh units in 2023, growing by 8.3 per cent over the previous year driven by SUVs, which accounted for almost half of the total dispatches from manufacturers to dealers.

The record sales have been achieved despite an increase in the average price of vehicles to ₹11.5 lakh last year as compared to ₹10.58 lakh in 2022.

Market leader Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India, Tata Motors and Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported their best-ever annual sales in 2023.

"If you look at January to December 2023, wholesales crossed 41.08 lakh. This is the first time the industry has ever crossed the 4 million mark. That, I think is a huge milestone in the history of the Indian passenger vehicles (PV) industry," Maruti Suzuki India Senior Executive Officer (Marketing and Sales) Shashank Srivastava told reporters in a call.

He further said, "This is against wholesales of 37.92 lakh units for the calendar year 2022. Therefore, there is a growth of 8.3 per cent in the calendar year 2023."

The previous record for the highest annual PV sales was recorded in 2022.

Srivastava further said the industry estimate for retail sales in 2023 is 40.51 lakh against 37.30 lakh in 2022, at a growth of 8.6 per cent.

"Most of the growth in the industry was largely driven by SUVs, which grew by 26 per cent," Srivastava said.

In terms of contribution to the overall PV sales, he said, "The SUV percentage went up from 42 per cent in 2022 to 48.7 per cent in 2023. For hatchbacks, it has come down from 34.8 per cent to 30 per cent in the calendar year 2023, sedans also decreased from 11 per cent to 9.4 per cent while for multi-utility vehicles it remained the same at 8.7 per cent."

He, however, said the contribution of SUVs to the overall PV sales is likely to saturate at around 50-55 per cent going forward.

Srivastava said the overall PV sales growth has come in despite the increase in the average selling price (ASP) of vehicles.

"So far in the industry what we have seen in the last few years is a jump in the ex-showroom price," he said, adding as per the company's calculation the ASP in the industry has gone up to to almost ₹11.5 lakh in 2023 as compared to ₹10.58 lakh in 2022.

The ASP has gradually increased over the last four years and it was at only ₹8.2 lakh in 2019-20 due to an increase in prices of commodities, more sales of bigger vehicles like SUVs which cost more, he said.

Besides, even within a segment consumers prefer higher variants with more features. The regulatory stringency has also led to an increase in vehicle prices, he added.

Maruti Suzuki India crossed the annual sales milestone of 20 lakh units in calendar year 2023, which includes its highest ever calendar year exports of 2,69,046 units.

"This is the first time ever in a calendar year that Maruti Suzuki's total sales exceeded 2 million units...This was also the highest ever rural sales at 7.76 lakh and highest ever pre-owned car sales at 4.68 lakh," Srivastava said, adding the company's premium retail outlet NEXA also clocked its best ever annual at more than 5 lakh units.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) reported a 9 per cent year-on-year increase in total sales at 7,65,786 units in 2023, on the back of record annual domestic sales. The company had sold a total of 7,00,811 units in 2022.

The company achieved its highest-ever domestic sales in a calendar year, crossing the six lakh sales milestone in 2023 as it sold 6,02,111 units, up 9 per cent over previous year's 5,52,511 units, , Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) said.

HMIL COO Tarun Garg said the company has not just kept pace but surpassed the estimated industry growth of around 8.2 per cent.

"Also in 2023, we proactively expanded our annual production capacity by 50,000 units to meet the increasing demand from our customers," he added

Homegrown automaker Tata Motors also said it clocked its best sales in a calendar year.

"For Tata Motors, CY23 was the third consecutive year of posting highest ever sales of around 5.53 lakh units led by its commanding position in the compact SUV segment and strong growth in hatches, despite the hatch segment de-growing at an industry level," Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd. and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd Managing Director Shailesh Chandra said.

On the industry crossing the significant 4 million mark, he said it has been "supported by a strong supply situation, new nameplates launched in the SUV segment, and a robust demand during the longer festive period".

Another automaker, Toyota Kirloskar Motor also reported its best ever annual sales with a 46 per growth in wholesales at 2,33,346 units in 2023. The company's wholesales stood at 1,60,364 units a year ago.

"(The) growth of 46 per cent as compared to last CY (calendar year) came from across the product portfolio. The consistent month-on-month performance, coupled with a year-round upward trend, indicates a growing customer interest in all our line-up of cars," TKM Vice President of Sales and Strategic Marketing Atul Sood said.

Similarly, MG Motor India reported an 18 per cent growth in total retail sales at 56,902 units in 2023 as compared to the previous year. It had around 25 per cent of its total sales coming from electric vehicle (EV) models and flagship EV, ZS and the Comet have clocked around 20,000 units till date.

Mahindra & Mahindra said its passenger vehicles sales in December 2023 stood at 35,174 units, as against 28,445 units in December 2022, up 24 per cent.

"We continued to face some supply challenges on select parts. We are working closely with our suppliers to mitigate these challenges going forward," M&M President, Automotive Division Veejay Nakra said.