Domestic car sales were in a slow lane in June with major manufacturers Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor posting single-digit growth as the auto industry continued to face challenging times.
Honda Cars India and Tata Motors posted double-digit growth, while Mahindra & Mahindra and Toyota reported decline in sales during the month.
The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki said its domestic sales increased 1.6 per cent in the month to 1,02,626 units against 1,00,964 units a year ago. Sales of the compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Ritz, Dzire rose 24.4 per cent to 45,701 units in June this year against 36,741 units last year.
However, sales of mini segment cars, including Alto and WagonR, declined 27.9 per cent to 34,336 units compared with 47,618 units in the year-ago period.
Rival Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) sold 36,300 units last month against 33,514 units in June 2014, up 8.3 per cent.
HMIL Senior Vice-President (Sales and Marketing) Rakesh Srivastava said: “In a market bearing low traction consistent demand of Elite i20, Grand, Xcent — Hyundai volume grew by 8.3 per cent and with the upcoming launch of global SUV Creta, we are confident of sustained growth.”
Tata Motors sales of passenger vehicles in the domestic market in June rose 30 per cent at 10,281 units against 7,911 units in the same month previous year.
The sales of the company’s passenger cars in June were higher by 44 per cent at 8,516 units against 5,933 units in June 2014.
“For Tata Motors, the growth in sales has been driven by Zest, Bolt and the GenX Nano. We are also seeing a lot of traction in our older models like Indica and Indigo after repositioning them in smaller cities,” Tata Motors President, Passenger Vehicles Business Unit Mayank Pareek told PTI.
He, however, said there was a concern as the sales growth for the overall industry was slowing down from April to June.
“Negative sentiments over poor monsoon and postponement of purchases by customers waiting for reduced interest rates on vehicles loans are primary reasons for the slowdown in car sales,” he said.
Honda Cars India reported a 12.65 per cent increase in its domestic sales at 18,380 units in June.
Utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra saw its domestic sales decline 9 per cent to 33,282 units last month against 36,452 units in the same month of last year. On the outlook, M&M Chief Executive (Automotive Division) Pravin Shah said: “With a normal monsoon till date, an overall positive sentiment and a slew of new launches in the automotive industry, we expect buoyancy in demand going forward.”
Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported 12.87 per cent decline in its June sales at 10,464 units against 12,010 units in the same period of last year.
“There was limited production last month on account of planned annual plant shut down scheduled from May 29 to June 6 for regular maintenance,” the company said.
Hinduja Group flagship company Ashok Leyland reported 41 per cent hike in total sales of commercial vehicles at 10,461 units in June.
Two-wheeler segment Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) reported 7.94 per cent increase in total sales at 3,48,793 units in June.
Chennai-based TVS Motor Company reported 8 per cent increase in total sales at 2,22,099 units in June.
Niche bike maker Royal Enfield’s domestic sales surged 49 per cent to 36,597 units last month from 24,519 units in June 2014.
Yamaha Motor India reported 26 per cent increase in domestic two-wheeler sales at 51,432 units in June.