After a strong January performance, automaker Mahindra & Mahindra reported more modest growth for February, with total auto sales growing by 19% against 32% in January.
Total sales figure was at 51,127, slightly below the 52,048 recorded in January.
With this, the company’s total sales in the 11 months of the current financial year are up 8% compared to last year, with passenger vehicle numbers higher by 5% and CV numbers stronger by 21%. Exports are down 28% at 24,813 this year so far.
The deceleration was seen across the board, with passenger vehicles growing only 8% on year to 22,389 in February compared to a growth of 17% seen in January to 23,686.
Commercial vehicles, which do not include three-wheelers, continued to outpace passenger vehicles and reported a growth of 28% in February. However, this too was well below the 51% jump seen in January.
Total CV sales for February came in at 20,946, a shade below the 21,002 reported in January.
Mahindra & Mahindra gets about 40% of its total sales in the form of commercial vehicles with a capacity of 3.5 tons or less. These vehicles saw a 27% increase in sales to 19,225 during the month. In January, they’d reported a 52% increase to 19,309.
Three-wheeler sales continued to be strong at 5,138 against 4,744 in January, and were up 50% on year.
“We are happy with our February performance with the business having registered a growth of 19%. This performance comes on the back of a sustained momentum and demand, both in the personal and commercial vehicle segments, which we believe will also continue in the month of March,” said Rajan Wadhera, president for the auto business at the company.