Maruti, Honda record double-digit growth in PVs

M&M sees decline in passenger vehicle sales for December

January 01, 2018 10:22 pm | Updated 10:24 pm IST - NEW DELHI

Market leader Maruti Suzuki and Honda Cars posted double-digit growth in domestic sales last month compared with a year earlier, while the increase for Hyundai Motors was marginal. On the other hand, Mahindra & Mahindra saw a decline of 7% in sales of passenger vehicles in December, which is considered to be a relatively slower month for the auto industry as people prefer to buy vehicles registered in the new year.

Maruti Suzuki India sold more than 1.18 lakh passenger vehicles in the country during the last month, a growth of 11.4% from the more than 1.06 lakh units sold in December 2016.

The company also sold in excess of 700 units of its light commercial vehicle Super Carry and exported 10,780 vehicles, taking the total sales in December 2017 to more than 1.30 lakh units, a growth of 10.3% year-on-year. However, the exports declined by a little over 6% from 11,494 units.

In a statement, the company said sales of mini segment cars, which include the Alto and the WagonR, grew 2% to 32,146 units during December, while sales of its mid-sized sedan Ciaz declined by almost 36% to 2,382. Sales of compact vehicles (Swift, Ritz, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno, Dzire and Tour S) grew 23% to 53,336 units, while those of utility vehicles (Gypsy, Ertiga, Vitara Brezza and S-Cross) rose 19.9% to 19,276 units. Sales of vans (Omni and Eeco) increased by 23.8% to 11,420 units in the last month.

Muted growth

December sales for Hyundai Motor India, which recorded its highest annual domestic sales in 2017, rose marginally. It sold 40,158 vehicles in December 2017, compared with 40,057 units in the year-earlier period.

“The calendar year 2017 has been a year of performance … registering highest-ever domestic volume of 5,27,320 units, a growth of 5.4%,” helped by the positive momentum in urban and rural retail sales, along with strong after-sales service and low-cost of ownership, YK Koo, MD & CEO, Hyundai Motor India said.

Its exports rose 32.9% to 22,741 units in the month, taking total monthly sales to 62,899, a growth of 10%.

Honda Cars registered a 26% growth in December sales at 12,642 units against 10,071 units in the same month of the previous year. The company added that it registered a cumulative growth of 15%, selling more than 1.78 lakh units during the calendar year 2017 against the more than 1.56 lakh units in the previous month.

‘Robust growth’

Yoichiro Ueno, President and CEO, Honda Cars India Ltd. said, “HCIL experienced robust growth during 2017 backed by good demand for all our products across segments, especially the Honda City & WR-V… Honda City has emerged as the highest-selling, mid-size sedan during 2017 with cumulative sales of 62,573 units.”

In a statement, the company said it sold 291 units of Brio, 1,891 units of Jazz, 1,415 units of Amaze, 4,365 units of City, 3,760 units of WR-V, 880 units of BR-V and 40 units of CR-V in December.

Mahindra & Mahindra saw a 7% decline in sales of passenger vehicles to 15,543 units, while sales of commercial vehicles rose 24% to 17,542 units. The total domestic sales grew 7% to 36,979 units. The company’s exports grew 8% to 2,221 units.

“We are happy to have ended December 2017 with a growth of 8%,” said Rajan Wadhera, president, Automotive Sector, M&M. “Our commercial vehicles growth for December has been encouraging at 24% and we are particularly buoyed by our ongoing strong performance in the MHCV segment, which indicates a vibrancy in the economy.”

TVS Motor said it registered a growth of 35.4% in domestic two-wheeler sales to over 2.07 lakh units.

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