Automobile industry sees recovery in June

Despite protracted Covidinduced national lockdown that continued for over two months followed by further lockdowns in key economic hubs of the country, demand for vehicles is gradually gathering some momentum with easing of lockdown.

While year-on-year comparison of domestic automotive sales does not throw up any meaningful narrative, most of the vehicle manufacturers, including car market leader Maruti Suzuki, have reported factory dispatches that are two-to-three times over the volumes of May.

For the two-wheeler segment, the volumes have quadrupled for market leader Hero Motor Corp in June month-on-month, which reflects better consumption demand coming in from the rural and the semi-urban markets.

Also, there is positive uptick in tractor demand, which saw 12 per cent and

23 per cent growth in June year-on-year at Mahindra and rival Escorts.

Maruti sold 51,274 units in June, down 54 per cent from June 2019 when the car maker clocked sales of

111,014 units. In May, a truncated month given the lockdown, the carmaker had sold 13,865 units.

Its archrival Hyundai sold 21,320 cars last month,

50 per cent down from last year, but much higher than

6,883 units sold in May. Mahindra & Mahindra sold 8,075 units, down 57 per cent from last year but more than doubled the May sales at 3,867 vehicles.

Sales at Hero MotoCorp, at 450,744 units last month, were at a record sequential growth of four times over the 112,682 units sold in May.