Car sales in India witnessed an upward swing in July with major companies, including market leader Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors and Honda, posting healthy double-digit growth riding on improving sentiments and launch of new models.
Maruti Suzuki said its domestic sales increased by 22.5 per cent last month to 1,10,405 units, from 90,093 units in July last year.
Its sales were driven mainly by mini segment cars, including Alto and WagonR, which saw 31.3 per cent jump to 37,752 units compared with 28,759 units in the year-ago period, the company said in a statement.
Sales of the compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Ritz, Dzire, rose 13.9 per cent to 48,381 units in July this year as against 42,491 units last year.
Rival Hyundai Motor India saw its domestic sales growing by 24.7 per cent at 36,500 units last month as compared with 29,275 units in July 2014 riding on newly launched SUV Creta, i20 Active and Elite i20 models.
Homegrown Tata Motors saw its passenger cars sales in July, 2015 rising by 27.1 per cent at 8,520 units as compared to 6,703 units in July 2014. However, it reported 1.32 per cent increase in its total sales at 40,154 units in July as compared to 39,629 units in the same month last year.
Domestic sales of Tata Motors’ commercial and passenger vehicles marginally declined at 35,076 units during the month as against 35,266 units sold in July, 2014.
Sales of passenger vehicles in the domestic market in July stood at 10,389 units against 9,167 units in the same month previous year, up 13.3 per cent.
“The growth was driven by the cars segment, specifically the new launches of Zest, Bolt and the new GenX Nano,” the company said.
Honda Cars India also reported 18.44 per cent increase in domestic sales at 18,606 units in July as against 15,709 units in the same month in the previous year.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor sold 12,070 units in the domestic market in July 2015 as compared to 11,921 units, up 1.24 per cent.
Utility vehicles major Mahindra & Mahindra, however, saw its domestic sales down by 6 per cent to 31,087 units last month as against 33,047 units in the same month of last year.
Commenting on the outlook, M&M Chief Executive (Automotive Division) Pravin Shah said: “While the auto industry is currently seeing muted growth, we do believe that the launch of some exciting new products will help it turn the tide.”
In addition, with the advent of a good monsoon till date and reduction in fuel prices, the company expects sentiments to improve, leading to overall growth in auto sales, he added.
Hinduja Group’s flagship company Ashok Leyland on Saturday reported a 40.2 per cent increase in its total sales at 11,022 units for July against 7,861 units in the same month of last year. Sales of heavy and medium commercial vehicles soared by 53.1 per cent to 8,803 units against 5,750 units.Light commercial vehicles sales also rose by 5.1 per cent to 2,219 units compared with 2,111 units.
German carmaker Volkswagen has reported a 18.2 per cent increase in sales in India at 4,029 units for July this year. The company had sold 3,409 units in the same month last year. “With encouraging customer response to recently launched New Vento, we are happy to announce that our sales have gone up by 18 per cent in July 2015, on a year-on-year basis,” Volkswagen Group Sales India Director (passenger cars) Michael Mayer said in a statement.
In the two-wheeler segment, the country’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp reported 7.97 per cent decline in sales at 4,87,580 units in July. It had sold 5,29,862 units in the same month last year.
“The industry expects the good monsoon and the oncoming festive season to revive sentiments and bring buoyancy in the market,” it said.
Hero MotoCorp had recently introduced two new motorcycles — the 150cc Xtreme Sports and 100 cc Passion PRO. The company is also gearing up to launch more new products in the months leading up to the festive season, it added.
Rival Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) saw its total sales growing by 2.15 per cent at 3,89,626 units as against 3,81,411 units in the same month last year. It’s motorcycle sales, however, declined by 24.30 per cent to 1,12,037 units last month from 1,48,012 units in same month last year. The company’s scooter sales jumped by 20.08 per cent to 2,59,344 units from 2,15,965 units in July 2014, it added. Exports grew by 4.65 per cent to 18,245 units against 17,434 units in the same month a year ago, it said.
POINTERS:
Tata Motors’ passenger cars sales in July 2015 up 27.1 per cent
Maruti Suzuki speeds past with 22.5 per cent rise in its domestic sales
In the two-wheeler segment, Hero MotoCorp reported 7.97 per cent decline in sales
Honda Motorcycle witness total sales growing by 2.15 per cent
