The Hindu : Car sales surge in June

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 16, 2003

Business

Business

Car sales surge in June

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JULY 15. Car sales surged by 23 per cent during June, continuing the impetus given by the excise duty cut in the budget. Total sales rose to 52,029 cars during the month under review from 42,331 cars in the same month in the previous year. Cumulative sales (April-June) also grew by 30.5 per cent to 1.49 lakh units from 1.15 lakh units sold in the year ago period.

According to data released by the Society of Indian Manufacturers (SIAM), the rise was sharpest for the two leading manufacturers Maruti Udyog (MUL) and Hyundai, which recorded increases of 34.5 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. In the case of Hyundai, sales spurted to 11,941 units while MUL sales touched 24,540 units during the month under reference.

Sales of Tata Engineering's popular Indica model and the mid-size Indigo also rose sharply by 23.8 per cent to touch 8,735 units. Honda Siel Cars recorded a 11.1 per cent rise to 1,208 units, while General Motors India saw a steep growth of 74.9 per cent to 1067 units. Fiat India, on the other hand, plagued by reports of its parent company's restructuring plans, saw sales plummet by 71.8 per cent to 1131 units. Hindustan Motors also witnessed a decline of 23.9 per cent to 1148 units.

Toyota Kirloskar, sold 777 units while DaimlerChrysler sales were 151 units and Ford witnessed a 10.3 per cent rise to 1331 units.

The SIAM data also show a 25 per cent rise in bus and truck sales as these reached 18,330 units. The commercial vehicle segment rose by 19.7 per cent to reach 46,899 units during the first three months of this fiscal against 39,179 units during the corresponding period in the previous year.

Two-wheelers registered a 6.35 per cent jump to 4.19 lakh units as motorcycle sales slowed down and scooter sales went up. Moped sales, however, fell by 16.7 per cent to 26,772 units.

Utility-vehicle sales perked up by 28.6 per cent to reach 10,751 units in June. Clearly, the new Scorpio model of Mahindra and Mahindra has been a hit as M & M sales rose by 63 per cent while Tata Engineering recorded a 21.4 per cent rise. Sales of multi-purpose-vehicles also rose by 13.3 per cent to 4,558 units. Similarly, sales of three-wheelers went up by 14.3 per cent to 20,185 units.

In the medium and heavy category, bus and truck sales grew by 28.7 per cent to 10,969 units in June. Sales of trucks rose by 31.9 per cent while that of buses by 17.6 per cent. Light commercial vehicles also recorded a 20 per cent rise in sales.

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