Major car makers post growth in sales in July

August 01, 2014 07:30 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 07:08 pm IST - NEW DELHI

Car sales are seeing gradual improvement showing upward trend in June 2014 as well as July 2014. Photo: K.K. Mustafah

Car sales are seeing gradual improvement showing upward trend in June 2014 as well as July 2014. Photo: K.K. Mustafah

As consumer sentiments continued to remain positive on the back of reduction in prices post excise-duty cuts, major car makers, including Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai, posted a growth in domestic sales in July.

Car sales in India have been under pressure, witnessing a drop of 4.65 per cent for the second consecutive fiscal in 2013-14. However, the sales are seeing gradual improvement showing upward trend in June 2014 as well as July 2014.

Market leader Maruti Suzuki India posted an increase of 19.9 per cent in domestic sales at 90,093 units during the months against 75,145 units in the year-ago period. The growth was driven mainly by increase of 81 per cent in sales of compact segment cars (Swift, Estilo, Ritz and Celerio). While sales of the company’s compact sedan Dzire rose 22.2 per cent, those of mini category (M800, Alto, A-Star, WagonR) dropped 14.4 per cent.

Likewise, Hyundai Motor India’s sales grew 12.69 per cent to 29,260 units as compared to 25,965 units in July last year. The company’s senior vice-president (Sales and Marketing) Rakesh Srivastava said, “The green shoots of growth are visible with the stabilisation of macro-economic factors and near to average monsoons.”

Honda Cars India’s sales in the domestic market grew 39.97 per cent to 15,709 units against 11,223 units in July 2013. Its senior vice president (Marketing & Sales) Jnaneswar Sen said, “We are extremely happy with the progress we have made in this year,” adding the newly launched Honda Mobilio has received good response from the market with over 10,000 bookings.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor said its domestic sales in July stood at 11,921 units as against 11,515 units in the year-ago month, up 3.52 per cent.

On the other hand Ford India posted 3.49 per cent dip in domestic sales at 7,592 units against 7,867 units. "There are several indicators to suggest a gradual revival in customer sentiment in the past few months, including cues from the stock market and a steady improvement in manufacturing index," Ford India executive director (Marketing, Sales and Service) Vinay Piparsania said.

He added, “As we approach the festive season, we expect a significant increase in footfalls at Ford showrooms across the country.”

General Motors India also reported 27.32 per cent decline in July sales at 4,726 units as against 6,503 units sold in the same month of last year. “The buoyancy in the market is still missing because of high interest rates and high fuel prices. An insufficient monsoon is also affecting sales of small cars in rural areas and tier II cities,” General Motors India vice president P. Balendran said.

Homegrown utility vehicles major Mahindra & Mahindra's domestic sales went down by 4.18 per cent to 33,047 units as against 34,490 units a year ago.

M&M chief executive (Automotive Division) Pravin Shah said, “The overall sales during the last month was subdued and the market remained challenging. With the monsoon now setting in across the country as well as the ensuing festival season, we expect positive sentiments in the coming months resulting in enhanced demand for our products.”

Tata Motor’s domestic sales of commercial and passenger vehicles during the month declined by 23.13 per cent to 39,623 units. While passenger vehicles sales were lower by 15.30 per cent at 9,167 units, commercial vehicles sales stood at 26,089 units, down 28.42 per cent.

In the two wheeler segment, Hero MotoCorp reported 8.67 per cent increase in its total sales at 5,29,862 units in July 2014, while Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India said its total sales rose by 28 per cent at 381,441 units.

Yamaha Motor India posted 35.81 per cent increase in domestic two-wheeler sales at 50,286 units.

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