Auto sector hits the fast track this festive season
Industry estimates suggest as many as 1.138 million passenger vehicles - cars, sedans and utility vehicles - were sold between August 17 and November 14
2023 has turned out to be a good festive season for the automobile industry, and thus is the buzz in the industry. Passenger vehicle (PV) sales saw a 41% jump year-on-year in the three months between Onam and Bhai Dooj. The festive season coinciding with the World Cup was just a cherry on top for the sector.
Industry estimates suggest as many as 1.138 million passenger vehicles, including cars, sedans and utility vehicles, were sold in the local market between August 17 and November 14. In fact, auto brands saw a good amount of spike in the sales of utility vehicles this year, mainly SUVs.
Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Director at Maruti Suzuki shared, “The overall sale for Maruti Suzuki was 4,90,000 during the festive period. It was almost 44% up, as compared to last year.” However, he added that while last year the number of festive days were 71, this year there were 90. “So, if you compare like-to-like there has been approximately 15% growth as compared to last year.”
Speaking of the areas in which the company basically spends (for advertising), Srivastava said that brand positioning, brand sustenance, tactical spends (done on final conversion, at the lower end of the funnel) and the spends on corporate image or technology are the key aspects where the festive spends are focused. “Generally, the ratio is 40:60, wherein 40% is done in H1 and 60% in H2. This festive season, the spends will be roughly around Rs 70-75 crore,” he added.
Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) also had a very encouraging festive season this year. It has recorded a growth of 15 per cent YoY in domestic wholesales (dispatches to dealers) that stands at 55,128 units in October as compared with 48,001 units in the same month last year.
Between Onam (August 17) to Bhai Dooj (November 15), Hyundai Motor India has retailed 1,65,000 vehicles, shared Tarun Garg, Chief Operating Officer, Hyundai Motor India. This is a growth of 9 per cent over the same period last year, for the company.
SUVs in fact were the flavour of the season this year for Hyundai. Garg added, “Our SUVs comprising Creta, Venue and the newly launched Hyundai EXTER have especially seen a major traction and SUVs contribute to around 65 percent of these 1,65,000 vehicles retailed by us.”
However, it wasn’t just the economical cars that had a record-breaking festive season. The luxury car segment also had its festive treat. As per a PTI report, the demand for high-end cars grew this year and will continue to grow. Experts believe that the boost the luxury car segment saw this festive season, it is set to register its best-ever performance in 2023.
Lance Bennett, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Mercedes-Benz India shares that this year’s extended festive season from Onam to Diwali has been better than last years’, owing to new product launches, a new portfolio and also backed by strong customer sentiments. “Mercedes has seen record deliveries during Dussehra, Dhanteras and Diwali, reflecting a buoyant customer mood,” he said.
“However, supply chain-related disruptions continue to pose challenges, affecting the production and availability of our SUVs, especially the GLC. We continue to have a positive industry outlook, expecting record sales this year,” Bennet said.
The Media Mix
Mercedes-Benz bet largely on digital platforms during the festive period, along with print and OOH taking some part of the advertising budget. Bennet mentions that OTT was also a part of the company’s digital media mix, during this period. While the exact numbers could not be shared, he shared that this mix indeed generated high engagement on the company’s digital platforms.
The selection of media and the genre does become a challenge at times as well, Srivastava shared. While the marketing budgets for launches don’t see as much of a trouble because of a set calendar, tactical spends at times do.
“This time there was the World Cup as well, and for our TG. Sports is big. So, we had to invest in the World Cup, even though it is expensive to invest in television during the World Cup. For this alone, we invested around Rs 50 crore, Rs 15 crore on OTT and Rs 35 crore on television,” Srivastava said.
He also mentioned that the final quarter of the year i.e, Q4 will see reduced ad spends. “Generally, Q3 sees a little more than Q4, I don’t think this year will be any different. However while we are clear on the spends for brand positioning and sustenance, the tactical spends would depend on the market conditions also, but that is largely on print and maybe some on television,” he added.
