Tata and Mahindra have seen significant increase in market share that Maruti and Hyundai have lost.
2022 has been a record breaker in more ways than one for India’s passenger vehicle (PV) industry, not only because it has scaled a new high at over 3.8 million units, beating the previous best of 3.34 million units in 2018 but some carmakers have also notched their best-ever annual numbers since they began manufacturing and selling cars in the country.
Fifteen car manufacturers, the bulk of whom released their December 2022 wholesales numbers over the past two days, have together recorded cumulative sales of 37,68,412 units, which constitute strong 24 percent year-on-year growth (CY2021: 30,34,823 units). Add sales of around 35,000 units from luxury carmakers to the cumulative sales total, and the 3.8-million-unit sales mark is surpassed.
| Car, SUV sales 2022 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carmaker | 2022 sales | 2021 sales | Growth | 2022 market share | 2021 market share |
| Maruti Suzuki | 15,76,025 | 13,64,791 | 15% | 41.82% | 44.97% |
| Hyundai | 5,52,511 | 5,05,533 | 9% | 14.66% | 16.65% |
| Tata Motors | 5,26,798 | 3,31,178 | 59% | 13.97% | 10.91% |
| Mahindra | 3,35,088 | 2,03,390 | 65% | 8.89% | 6.70% |
| Kia | 2,54,556 | 1,81,583 | 40% | 6.75% | 5.98% |
| Toyota | 1,60,357 | 1,30,768 | 23% | 4.25% | 4.30% |
| Honda | 95,022 | 89,152 | 7% | 2.52% | 2.93% |
| Renault | 81,042 | 95,878 | -15% | 2.15% | 3.15% |
| Skoda | 53,721 | 23,858 | 125% | 1.42% | 0.78% |
| MG Motor | 48,063 | 40,273 | 19% | 1.27% | 1.32% |
| Volkswagen | 42,481 | 26,930 | 58% | 1.12% | 0.88% |
| Nissan | 35,107 | 40,242 | -13% | 0.93% | 1.32% |
| Citroen | 6,134 | 624 | 883% | 0.16% | 0.02% |
| Force Motors | 830 | 122 | 580% | 0.02% | 0.00% |
| Isuzu | 677 | 501 | 35% | 0.01% | 0.02% |
| Total | 37,68,412 | 30,34,823 | 24% | 100% | 100% |
The top six players – Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Kia India and Toyota Kirloskar Motor – together account for 90 percent of the total PV market. Other than Hyundai and Toyota, which have seen year-on-year sales increases in single-digit percentage, in comparison the other four have posted double-digit gains.
While three OEMs – Tata Motors, Mahindra and Kia – have gained market share, the other three – Maruti, Hyundai and Toyota – have shed share in CY2022 when compared to their market performance in CY2021.
Maruti Suzuki: 15,76,025 units, up 15 percent
2022 market share: 41.82 percent, down from 2021’s 44.97 percent
Maruti Suzuki sold over 1.5 million units to record 15 percent YoY growth in 2022. The bulk of its growth came from its compact models – the Baleno, Swift, Wagon R, Celerio, Ignis, Dzire – which with 869,040 units accounted for 55 percent of its sales in 2022 compared to 52 percent in 2021. Its UVs with 337,157 units contributed 21 percent to total sales last year, the same as in CY2021. Meanwhile, the entry level models – the Alto and S-Presso – with 227,824 units contributed 14.45 percent to sales in 2022 but flagging demand in this mass-market segment meant that this was a decline over the 17 percent in 2021.
The carmaker, which has a pending order backlog of an estimated 375,000 units, would have fared better had production not been impacted at different times during the year due to the semiconductor supply chain issue. In fact, its December 2022’s tally of 112,110 units is the lowest in the year, caused by by shortage of electronic components. In 2022, September with 138,380 units, was the best month for Maruti Suzuki.
Hyundai: 552,511 units, up 9 percent
2022 market share: 14.66 percent, down from 2021’s 16.65 percent
Hyundai closed 2022 with its best-ever domestic annual sales – 552,511 units / up 9.4 percent – since began manufacturing operations 25 years ago in September 1998.
Hyundai’s strong performance is thanks to sustained demand for two of its best-selling products – the Creta midsize SUV and the Venue compact SUV. The Creta, India’s second best-selling SUV after the Tata Nexon, has sold a total of 140,895 units and accounts for 25.50 percent of total sales.
The Venue, with estimated 12-month sales of 121,918 units contributed 22 percent to Hyundai’s sales in 2022. Combined Creta-Venue sales account for an estimated 47 percent of total sales, with SUVs contributing to over 50 percent to the overall number.
Tata Motors: 526,798 units, up 59 percent
2022 market share: 13.97 percent, up from 2021’s 10.91 percent
Tata Motors has notched its best-ever annual wholesales performance in 2022 with 526,798 units. The company has capitalised on surging demand for its SUVs, particularly the Nexon and the Punch which are currently the best-selling in their respective segments.
What has also helped Tata Motors’ accelerated growth is its first-mover advantage in the fast-growing electric vehicle market, where it has an over 80 percent market share. The company currently retails the Nexon EV, Tigor EV and has also recently launched the Tiago EV, whose deliveries are to begin in January. As per our sister publication Autocar Professional’s estimates, Tata Motors has sold 41,538 EVs in 2022, which accounts for 7.88 percent of the company’s total sales. Year on year, the company has recorded 59 percent growth.
Tata Motors has also made the maximum gains in passenger vehicle market share which has increased by 3 percentage points to 13.97 percent from 10.91 percent in 2021. The company is eyeing the No. 2 position and closed 2022 with just 25,713 units behind Hyundai. The battle between these two carmakers for second spot in India’s booming car market now moves into 2023 which will see bothy brands roll out several new models.
Mahindra: 335,088 units, up 65 percent
2022 market share: 8.89 percent, up from 2021’s 6.70 percent
Mahindra, which, along with Tata Motors, is the star performer of 2022, has clocked cumulative wholesales of 335,088 units, a solid 65 percent YoY increase over 2021’s wholesales of 203,390 units. The company has seen almost its entire SUV line-up – XUV700, Scorpio N and Scorpio Classic, XUV300, Thar and the Bolero/Bolero Neo – fire on all sales cylinders.
Mahindra’s average monthly sales works out to be 27,924 units in 2022 – a sharp increase over 16,949 average monthly sales in 2021. The numbers could have been considerably higher if it weren’t for production being impacted by the vexing semiconductor supply chain issue, which refuses to bow out.
At the beginning of November, Mahindra had a pending order bank of 260,000 units. To ensure increased supplies to dealers and consumers, the company has announced an aggressive manufacturing capacity expansion programme, designed to increase production by 68 percent to over 600,000 units per annum over the next 12-15 months. This will see the monthly output grow from 29,000 units in Q4 FY2022 to 49,000 units by January-March 2024.
Kia: 254,556 units, up 40 percent
2022 market share: 6.75 percent, up from 2021’s 5.98 percent
Kia is yet another carmaker which has recorded its best-ever calendar year sales in 2022. Its 254,556 units mark 40 percent YoY growth and help increase its share in the overall PV market to 6.75 percent from the 5.98 percent it had in 2021.
Kia’s growth has been bolstered by the fact that it has a UV-strong portfolio. The Seltos midsize SUV, its best-selling product, sold 101,569 units, accounting for 40 percent of total sales. The compact Sonet SUV with 86,251 units contributed 34 percent and the Carens MPV packed quite a punch with 62,756 units in its first full year of sales. Given the sustained demand for these three Kias, it is not surprising that they are regulars in the India Top 10 UVs list. Meanwhile, adding to Kia’s overall numbers, the Carnival MPV and the all-electric EV6 sold 3,550 and 430 units, respectively in 2022.
Toyota: 160,357 units, up 23 percent
2022 market share: 4.25 percent, down from 2021’s 4.30 percent
Toyota reported its total wholesales for 2022 at 160,357 units. This is the company’s highest-ever wholesales in the past 10 years and a 23 percent year-on-year growth (CY2021: 130,768 units). The best wholesales earlier clocked by Toyota in India was in 2012 with a total of 172,241 units. In December 2022, Toyota sold 10,421 units, down 4 percent on the year-ago 10,834 units.
Other beneficiaries of the overall market growth last year have been Honda, Skoda, MG Motor and Volkswagen. Honda sold a total of 95,022 units, up 7 percent YoY with the City sedan seeing good traction. Skoda and Volkswagen have both benefited from the VW Group’s India 2.0 programme-derived new models. Skoda India saw its sales jump 125 percent to 53,721 units, its best-ever calendar year numbers, thanks to demand for the Kushaq SUV and the Slavia sedan. This has seen Skoda’s market share grow to 1.42 percent from 0.78 percent in 2021. Likewise, Volkswagen with its Taigun SUV and Virtus sedan saw sales rise 58 percent to 42,481 units, resulting in a market share increase to 1.12 percent from 0.88 percent a year ago. MG Motor India, with 48,063 units, registered 19 percent YoY growth and has a 1.27 percent market share of the hugely competitive Indian passenger vehicle segment.
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