Barring Honda Cars, most car makers reported a marginal decline in their sales for the month of November 2018, when compared to the same month the previous year.
Maruti Suzuki reported marginal decline in sales at 1,53,539 units for November against 1,54,600 units sold during November 2017. Domestic sales were up marginally at 1,46,018 units last month against 1,45,300 units in the year ago period, Maruti Suzuki said. Sales of mini cars comprising Alto and WagonR stood at 29,954 units compared to 38,204 units earlier, down 21.6%.
However, sales of compact segment models, including Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire, were up 10.8% at 72,533 units against 65,447 units in November last year, the company said.
Mid-sized sedan Ciaz sold 3,838 units compared to 4,009 units in the same month a year ago.
Sales of utility vehicles, including Vitara Brezza, S-Cross and Ertiga, were up 1.9% at 23,512 units compared to 23,072 units in the year-ago month, MSI said.
Exports in November were down by 19.1% at 7,521 units against 9,300 units in the corresponding month last year.
Hyundai Motor India Ltd. registered a 0.67% drop in its domestic sales to 43,709 units against 44,008 units in the corresponding year-earlier period.
Ford India’s combined domestic wholesales and exports in November registered 19,905 vehicles, compared to 27,019 vehicles in November 2017.
The domestic wholesales in November stood at 6,375 vehicles against 7,777 units in the same month last year. Exports recorded 13,530 vehicles compared to 19,242 units in November 2017.
“With consumer sentiment continuing to be low due to the general economic situation, we expect continued volatility in fuel prices and inflation to cause headwinds for the passenger vehicle industry,” said Anurag Mehrotra, president & managing director, Ford India.
Honda sales rise
Honda Cars India Ltd. reported a 10% increase in its domestic sales to 13,006 units in November against 11,819 units sold during November 2017.
“This is largely due to diwali, which happened in November this year compared to being in October last year along with continued good performance of all new Amaze and robust sales of models like City & WR-V,” HCIL senior vice president and director, Sales and Marketing, Rajesh Goel said.
