Kia Carnival Production Witnesses Wild Swings In Dec 2022, Jan 2023 | V3Cars

Here’s the 6-month sales data of all Kia cars to help you gauge the sales trend:

I’ve highlighted the sales numbers of cars, which saw a substantial drop in December 2022 and then shot up in Jan 2023. Then, I started looking for such patterns in other cars and I found some interesting stuff. While some massmarket cars witnessed an unusual dip in December 2022 dispatches, they recovered in January 2023 with an equally unusual rise in production numbers.

Take look at the cars that saw a notable drop in December 2022 and then a substantial increase in January 2023:

This pattern was not exclusive to the Kia Carnival or Kia cars in general. We can see this same thing with many more cars. Why’s that?

What’s The Reason Behind These Fluctuations? V3Cars Insights

Possible Reason 1

When we buy cars, we usually associate the age of the car with the year of production. If the cars rolled off the factory in December 2022, then they would, forever, carry that number on their registration certificates. This easily knocks off a respectable percentage during the resale compared to a January 2023 car, which comes across as a newer model despite only 1 month age difference.

So, the demand in December is lower than most other months as people wait for January 2023 cars to start arriving at dealerships. To balance that demand and supply scale, the manufacturers often hold back the cars at the plants and dispatch them in January.

These cars may not necessarily have rolled off the production line in January. But if they move off the factory premises in January, then they earn the right to carry the Jan 2023 markings in their Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).

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Possible Reason 2

The other reason is that many carmakers saw healthy production numbers in 2022 because of high demand. Now, if they fulfilled it all by the end of 2022, then there’s potential for seeing a drop in YoY numbers. There are benefits to presenting an uptrending trajectory of growth (or at least suffer less YoY drop) in case the economy shrinks in 2023.

Holding some of the production numbers for 2023 dispatches helps with masking some of the damages in the balance sheets in the event of an economic downturn. If things remain healthy, then it opens up the possibility of demonstrating a growth, even if the demand remained flat or took a slight dip.

Also Read: Tata Quarterly Car Sales Analysis - Q4 2022 | QoQ, YoY Change

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