Led by market leader Maruti Suzuki India, most car manufacturers performed well in June, in a sign that things may finally be looking up for the sector. Sales numbers picked up thanks to discounts and a scramble to take advantage of an excise duty cut, which was to expire at the end of the month (on June 25, it was extended till the end of the year). Companies that didn’t do well were mainly those that had no new launches.
Maruti Suzuki sold 100,964 vehicles in the domestic market in June, up 31 per cent over the same period last year.
Hyundai Motor India, the second largest car manufacturer, sold 33,514 units, 9 per cent more than in June last year.
“Hyundai has grown over the last year on the phenomenal success of the Xcent, Grand and Santa Fe,” Rakesh Srivastava, the company’s Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing said. Honda Cars India also grew 75 per cent year-on-year on the success of its compact sedan Amaze and the newly launched City diesel.
“We are excited about the upcoming launch of our seven-seater Honda Mobilio, at the end of this month,” said Jnaneswar Sen, Senior Vice-President – Marketing and Sales, Honda Cars India.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor and Nissan Motor India registered 9 per cent and 48 per cent growth, respectively.
Backed by the launch of the new Fiesta and the success of its compact sports utility vehicle EcoSport, Ford India’s sales grew by around 2 per cent.
However, General Motors India’s fortunes continued to slide, with sales dropping 21 per cent.
Also, both the domestic manufacturers — Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra — failed to impress While Tata’s passenger vehicle sales fell 33 per cent (7,911 units), Mahindra’s were down 3 per cent. In the two-wheeler segment, Honda Motorcycles & Scooters’ sales in June rose 28 per cent and Yamaha Motor India’s numbers were up 14 per cent.