Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), Hyundai Motor India (HMIL), Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Ford India were among the few automobile companies that maintained the tempo of festival season with an increase in sales in November over the year-ago period.
Most of the automobile companies — both passenger vehicle makers and two-wheeler firms — could not live up to the festival mood as sales declined in November against the corresponding month last year.
In the two-wheelers segment, while companies such as Royal Enfield and TVS Motor Company reported higher sales, market leader Hero MotoCorp reported marginally higher sales. Scooters market leader Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India reported decline in sales annually.
MSIL sold more than 1.10 lakh units during the month, up 11 per cent as against 1-lakh units in November 2014. Similarly, HMIL grew 23 per cent in sales with 43,651 units in November as compared with 35,511 units in corresponding month last year.
Domestic player M&M also drove its sales higher with new launches like TUV300, to 19,662 units during the month as against 14,473 units in November 2014.
GST implementation “The festival season, coupled with new product launches as well as moderation in interest rates have seen the auto industry post a positive growth during the last couple of months. I believe speedy implementation of GST will help and have a long-term impact on the competitiveness of Indian auto industry,” Pravin Shah, President and Chief Executive (Automotive), M&M, said.
However, Tata Motors could not manage to live up to the mark even with new vehicles such as the Bolt and the Zest. The company recorded sales of 10,517 units last month as compared with 12,021 units in November last year.
In the commercial vehicles segment, except Tata Motors, others reported higher growth during the month on a year-on-year basis.
“With the positive economic outlook, auto industry will grow, but there are two key risk factors going forward. One is continued subdued rural demand and the other potential increase in inflation,” Abdul Majeed, Partner and auto expert at PriceWaterhouse, said.