new delhi fuelled by strong demand for suvs and electrics tata motors pipped close rival hyundai to emerge as the number two passenger vehicles maker in india behind top player maruti suzukitata motors sent 43341 units to domestic dealerships in may 2022 which included 3454 units of electric versions of nexon suv and tigor mini sedan hyundai sent 42293 units it exported 8970 units but blamed the lower wholesale volumes to a scheduled biannual maintenance shutdown which cut its factory production by six days marutis sales in the month stood at 1 24 lakh unitsthis is the second time in the past six months when tata has beaten hyundai in monthly sales the last time being in december 2021 as demand for its models such as the nexon and punch suvs remains robustthe change in leadership ranking takes place with the broader auto market continuing to reel under production shortages due to a semiconductor crunch however companies including maruti suzuki have been witnessing healthy demand for cars and suvsmahindra sold 26904 units in may 2022 while kia motors sold 18718 units toyota 10216 units and honda cars 8188 unitsshailesh chandra president of tata motors passenger vehicles business unit including electrics said that demand remains high for the companys models across its lineup including for hatchback altroz and premium suvs safari and harrierhe said that while the company registered its highestever domestic wholesale volumes the bookings that it is getting are far higher we have a pending delivery backlog of around 354 times of what we are dispatching to dealerships monthlychandra said that tata motors is now the biggest suv seller ahead of others such as maruti suzuki hyundai and mahindra mahindramarutis sales in the month stood at 124 lakh units and its director marketing sales shashank srivastava said that customer purchases have been robust while the outlook on demand is positive there are concerns around a variety of factors such as resurgence of covid impact from commodity hikes and inflation fuel prices and dearer financing rates