New Delhi: Country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki on Tuesday reiterated its intent to report monthly retail sales based on vehicle registrations from the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways’ (MoRTH) Vahan portal. The company currently announces wholesales based on factory despatches to dealers every month.
“We have been talking that it is very important to focus on the retail rather than on the wholesale numbers. We have moved over to Vahan, and from this year onwards, we are going to totally follow the Vahan numbers only, because that gives the actual picture of how retail is happening in the market,” said Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer- marketing and sales, Maruti Suzuki, during a media conference call.
The move comes as last year, most car manufacturers continued dispatching vehicles despite weak market sentiment, which later resulted in high inventory levels and thereby heavy discounts to clear the backlog.
Banerjee added that Maruti has taken a conscious call to reduce the dealer inventory and by the end of FY25, its network stock stood at just 27 days.
It may be noted that RTOs (regional transport offices) of most states share vehicle registration data with the Vahan portal, except Telangana which accounts for 3.5 per cent of India’s total car sales.
“The trials are going on for Telangana. They are not fully on to the Vahan system. We are expecting that maybe within a month or two, they will be coming into the Vahan system,” Banerjee said.
We are working with the government, and suggesting to them that if Telangana can also come on board, that will be a totally wholesome thing to share, he added.
In the company’s internal systems and dealers schemes, Maruti Suzuki said, it has been referring to Vahan numbers for some time.
If the entire industry started reporting sales based on Vahan data, it would provide a more accurate view of the market reality compared to relying on wholesale numbers, Banerjee said.
