Car sales in March touched a record high for most major players such as Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra. This has led to a strong quarter for the industry, with sales improving since January.
Apart from improved market sentiments, the good show has largely been attributed to a rush of buyers looking to get deals on existing dealer inventories which attract lower excise rates.
The Government had increased excise duties by two per cent in the mid-March Budget announcements, leading to higher prices on all new models coming out from car plants.
Maruti Suzuki posted a 2 per cent rise in domestic sales at 1.12 lakh units, even as total sales (with exports) were the highest-ever at 1.25 lakh units. Rival Hyundai saw its sales increasing 23 per cent to 31,822 units.
Mr Arvind Saxena, Director - Marketing and Sales, HMIL said, “We could meet our expectations in March as there was considerable interest to beat the expected price hike in the Union Budget. The market continues to pose many challenges; things can improve if interest rates come down this quarter.”
On Sunday, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Toyota Kirloskar reported highest-ever car sales for March.
Tata Motors’ monthly sales crossed 1 lakh for the first time, with passenger vehicle sales up 34 per cent to 36,984 units. Sales of the Nano compact touched a new high of 10,475 units, on a 20 per cent growth – the previous peak was 10,012 units in April, 2011.
M&M, sold 25 per cent more vehicles in March at 47,001 units (with exports). Passenger vehicles sales were up 33 per cent to 23,020 units. Meanwhile, Toyota Kirloskar’s sales rose 87 per cent to 18,220 units led by the Etios range.
Honda Siel, which emerged out of its production issues in February, saw a three-fold rise in March sales to 11,016 units.