Car sales of most auto majors picked up in June, barring the country’s largest passenger car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), which took a hit because of a fire at one of its largest vendors, Subros, leading to an over 10 per cent sales decline in June year-on-year (YoY).

Maruti sold 92,133 units during the month compared with 1,02,626 units in June 2015.

Honda Cars India also reported a 38 per cent decline YoY during the month, with sales of 11,407 units, compared with 18,380 units in June 2015.

“The shift in consumer preferences led to high stock of diesel vehicles at our dealerships. As a deliberate measure, we have been rationalising wholesale dispatches to correct the stock situation. The market is good and our retail sales were much higher than wholesale,” said Yoichiro Ueno, President and Chief Executive Officer, Honda Cars India. 

However, led by the second largest passenger car manufacturer, Hyundai Motor India (HMIL), others such as Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Ford India, Renault India and home-grown firms such as Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Tata Motors reported positive growth.

“Hyundai volumes grew by 9.7 per cent, with sales of 39,806 units of its models Grand i10, Elite i20 and Creta and on the build-up of a positive environment with the good beginning of monsoons and the announcement of the 7th Pay Commission for the Central Government employees,” said Rakesh Srivastava, Senior Vice-President Sales and Marketing, HMIL.

Companies, such as Ford India and Renault India, reported more than double the sales during the month, as compared to what they had sold in June last year.

Tata Motors also saw some positive growth last month with 12,509 units compared with 10,281 units in June 2015.

M&M reported sales of 17,070 units in June with a single-digit growth, against 15,880 units in June last year.

“With the advent of a good monsoon, which we are currently witnessing, we hope to see improved sentiments and a buoyancy in demand thereby enhancing rural prosperity,” said Pravin Shah, President & Chief Executive (Automotive), M&M.

According to analysts, too, with the hope of good monsoons and salary increases for government employees, there can potentially be a sales spurt in the coming months, particularly, around the festival season.

“I would expect volumes to be concentrated around new launches. The companies that do not have successful launches will, in fact, run the danger of losing segment share significantly,” said Kumar Kandaswami, Senior Director at Deloitte in India.

If the monsoon predictions come true, the industry should see a spurt in the growth of entry passenger cars and two-wheelers, he added.

In the two-wheeler segment, all the companies, including Honda Motorcycle & Scooter, TVS Motor, India Yamaha Motor and Royal Enfield, reported healthy growth.

Market leader Hero MotoCorp alone reported a single-digit growth in June.

Similarly, in the commercial vehicle segment, all the major companies reported growth Y-o-Y.

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