It was a mixed bag for car manufacturers in January, with market leader Maruti Suzuki posting a marginal increase in sales and Hyundai Motor India, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Ford selling more cars than they did a year ago. However, for Honda Cars India, Tata Motors and Toyota Kirloskar Motor, sales were down.
In the car segment, Maruti sold 1.06 lakh cars in January, marginally more than the 1.05 lakh units sold in the same month last year. Its exports were down 35 per cent to 7,223 units, resulting in a 3 per cent decline in total sales for the month. “Domestic sales would have been higher, but the fewer number of working days in January impacted production and dispatch,” Maruti said.
Hyundai Motor sold 38,016 units last month, a 9 per cent growth year-on-year. “The growth momentum of last year continued, with strong performance by Grand i10, Creta and i20 Elite/Active,” said Rakesh Srivastava, Senior Vice-President (Sales and Marketing).
M&M recorded a 13 per cent growth YoY in January, selling 22,088 passenger vehicles. Newly launched KUV100 and TUV300 aided growth, said Pravin Shah, President and Chief Executive (Automotive). Tata Motors’ sales fell to 10,728 units against 13,047 units in January last year.
In the two-wheeler segment, Hero MotoCorp reported marginal growth at 5.63 lakh units in January (5.59 lakh units). Honda Motorcycle and Scooter sold 378,719 units (344,678).
In the commercial vehicle segment Tata, Mahindra and Volvo Eicher reported positive YoY growth.