Mahindra and Mahindra October sales fall 11% to 51,896 units; car, van sales crash 62%

Homegrown auto major Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) on Friday reported 11 per cent year-on-year decline in total sales at 51,896 units in October, dented by 62 per cent decline in car and van sales.

"The auto major had sold 58,416 units in the same month last year," M&M said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The domestic sales, which include sales made in subsidiary company Mahindra Electric Mobility, dipped 11 per cent to 49,193 units in October as against 55,350 units in same period a year ago.

Total exports tumbled 12 per cent to 2,703 units as compared to 3,066 units in the same period a year-ago.

The passenger vehicles segment (which includes utility vehicles, Cars and Vans) sold 17785 units last month, as against 22279 units in October 2018, registering a decline of 23 per cent. The car and van sales declined to 675 units, from 1787 units in the year-ago period.

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In the commercial vehicles segment, sales stood at 23,582 units, as against 24,353 units in May 2018.

In October 2019, the medium and heavy commercial vehicles segment's sales were at 402 units versus 683 units sold in the year-ago period.

Commenting on the performance, Veejay Ram Nakra, Chief of Sales and Marketing, Automotive Division, M&M said, "The festive month of October 2019 was excellent for Mahindra, with retail volume exceeding wholesale by approximately 40 per cent. This robust retail performance was contributed by both passenger & commercial vehicles.

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"Further, our billing numbers are in line with what we had planned for the month, since the objective was to significantly correct our channel inventory. We hope to see the positive consumer sentiment continue going forward," Nakra said.

This festive season on the day of Dhanteras, the company had delivered close to 13,500 vehicles across the country, much higher than the deliveries last year on Dhanteras, it added.

Reacting to sales numbers, shares of Mahindra and Mahindra were trading at Rs 588 apiece, down 2.99 per cent, against previous close on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar