New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS): Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) on Friday said it registered total sales of 70,078 units last month, achieving its third highest domestic sales as well as third highest monthly total sales numbers since inception.

The domestic sales were at 55,568 units and exports stood at 14,510 units in October — a 2 per cent overall sales growth from the year-ago period ( a total of 68,728 units). Exports alone saw 6.7 per cent growth from the same month last year (13,600 units).

In the January-October period, the automaker achieved total sales of 6,47,789 units which included both domestic and exports figures, which is a 0.7 per cent growth from the same period last year (643,535 units).

According to Tarun Garg, Whole-time Director and Chief Operating Officer, HMIL, they witnessed a strong demand for SUV portfolio during festive period.

It led to “our highest-ever monthly SUV sales at 37,902 units, including highest-ever monthly domestic sales of the Hyundai CRETA at 17,497 units. SUVs remain a cornerstone of our lineup, representing an impressive 68.2 per cent of our total monthly sales in October 2024, with similar penetration in urban as well as rural markets,” Garg informed.

He said the company continues to bolster its CNG penetration and HMIL’s innovative Hy-CNG technology has helped “us achieve highest ever CNG sales volume of 8,261 units thereby contributing 14.9 per cent to domestic sales volume in October 2024.”

The Indian subsidiary of South Korean automotive giant Hyundai Motor made its stock market debut last month in a $3.3 billion IPO. The share was trading at Rs 1,822.40 apiece on Friday.

India serves as a key global production base for the Korean automotive giant. Last year, Hyundai produced 765,000 vehicles in India. Hyundai Motor India is the second-biggest carmaker in India, following Japan's Maruti Suzuki.

The automaker has earmarked investments worth around Rs 32,000 crore for India till 2032, as the company predicts a strong and steady EV market growth till 2030.