NEW DELHI: Demand for new cars continues to stay strong despite concerns on interest rates and inflation. After registering a 33% sales growth in 2022, the industry is confident to close this year with a record 4 million-plus vehicles with as many as one million units expected to come in only during the festive season.
Companies such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Kia, MG Motor, and Mercedes-Benz said demand continues to remain robust as sales of premium vehicles are not showing any signs of slowdown.
"We believe that by the end of September, the industry's volumes would cross 3 million units. Riding the festive demand, we are confident to add an additional one million in the last quarter, and cross 4-million units for the full year, creating a record for the industry," Shashank Srivastava, director (marketing & sales) at Maruti Suzuki, told TOI on the sidelines of the annual convention of auto body Siam.
"The going has been healthy so far, and we expect to be no different when it comes to festivals. We will have 83 days in the festive period this year, in which we intend to clock a record one million units," he said, adding that SUVs and new models continue to fuel the momentum.
Tarun Garg, COO of Hyundai in India, also said demand looks safe so far. "The fresh demand continues to be strong, even as companies clear the previous backlog of bookings. The industry has grown by nine per cent this year, and we are confident to see the same growth over the remaining months."
Hardeep S Brar, VP (marketing & sales) at Kia India, said the mid-SUV category, which has products like Kia Seltos, Hyundai Creta, Maruti Grad Vitara and Mahindra XUV7OO - has been growing strongly. "The upper-end of the market continues to perform well, and we do not see saturation happening anytime soon."
Santosh Iyer, MD of Mercedes in India, also said that new bookings do not show signs of a weakness even in luxury. "We are confident of carrying on the momentum."
Shailesh Chandra, MD of Tata Motors passenger and electric vehicles, said even electrics are contributing to the growth.
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