Tata Motors’ car sales in August jump 154% YOY

Passenger vehicle (PV) sales at Tata Motors are picking up pace after touching a historical low in FY20. The maker of Tiago and Nexon saw dispatches race to a two-year high in August.

During the month, the Tata group flagship sold 18,580 units against 7,316 a year ago, a year-on-year jump of 154 per cent. Its previous high was in March 2018, when it sold 20,266 units. During the month, it has also seen its market share jump 500 bps to 8 per cent YOY.

The company’s innings in the competitive PV market has been nothing short of a roller-coaster ride. That’s set to change, said Shailesh Chandra, president (PV business), Tata Motors.

Chandra is confident the sales momentum that has kicked in since a few months will be sustainable this time, as unlike the yesteryears, this growth is being led not by one but all models. It also helps that four out of five models are in segments (SUV and hatchback) that have remained relatively resilient to the current market condition.

“All models launched in January have been accepted really well,” he said, alluding to the new calendar year models of Nexon, Tiago, Harrier, and Tigor and the addition of Altroz to the line-up.

Sales of the Harrier and Nexon have increased by 40 and 43 per cent, respectively, compared to the monthly average sales of last year, he said. Meanwhile, urban buyers, who were not willing to consider Tata-branded cars and SUVS till a few years ago, have changed their course. The firm has seen their contribution in its overall sales mix go up. “While sales in both rural and urban markets are growing, the ratio of urban-to-rural has shifted by an additional 3 per cent in favour of urban markets on account of an even higher acceptance of our ‘New Forever’ range in the top 50 cities,” he said. Urban sales accounted for 65-70 per cent in the pre-covid months.

The trend for Tata Motors is a sharp contrast to others that have seen rural sales rake in higher volumes. Top safety ratings, coupled with a contemporary design, have really clicked with urban buyers, he added.

Puneet Gupta, associate director a tI H S Markit, says what has worked in favour of Tata Motors is a strong portfolio in the sub-~10 lakh segment. “All models are attractively priced and offer great value proposition,” said Gupta. Relatively lower competition in the hatchback segment has been a blessing.

Chandra expects the launch of two new additional models — the Gravitas (a 7seater) and Hornbill (sub-compact SUV) over the next few months, to boost sales.