Car sales witness moderate increase in July, two-wheelers up

Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors reported rise in their monthly numbers amid a difficult market condition

Car sales in India witnessed moderate growth during July with major manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors reporting rise in their monthly numbers amid a difficult market condition.

Other car makers, including General Motors, Ford and Honda Siel, saw decline in their sales during last month.

Two-wheeler makers such as Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India and Suzuki Motorcycle reported rise their sales in July.

The lockout at its Manesar plant notwithstanding, the country's largest carmaker Maruti suzuki India (MSI) said its domestic sales in last month stood at 71,024 units compared to 66,504 units in July last year, up 6.80%.

On July 21, MSI had announced a lockout at its Manesar plant following violence and arson, in which a senior company official was killed and 100 others were injured.

Rival Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) recorded sales of 27,585 units compared to 25,642 units in the year-ago period, a growth of 7.58%.

"The overall market demand is suppressed due to general inflationary trend, high fuel prices and interest rates. Unless any major triggers get activated, market sentiment is not expected to improve very much," HMIL Vice-President (National Sales) Rakesh Srivastava said.

Homegrown Tata Motors' passenger vehicles sales were higher by 52.63% to 26,240 units in July from 17,192 units sold in the same month last year. Its total sales during the month went up by 15.26% to 73,491 units from 63,761 units in the year-ago period.

Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra's domestic sales stood at 42,799 units during the month against 37,323 units in July 2011, up 14.67%.

"We are happy to have achieved a growth...During July 2012 in spite of difficult and uncertain market conditions continuing... A cut in interest rates would have helped lower the cost of manufacturing and product, thereby improving industry confidence," M&M Chief Executive (Automotive Division) Pravin Shah said.

Another car maker Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) reported a 7% increase in its sales at 14,574 units during July as against 13,592 units in the same month last year.

"We have registered a growth this month based on the strength of Innova and Fortuner sales. The Innova and Fortuner sales continue to grow with the increase in production.

"There has been a drop in sales of the Etios series, as we exported 1,488 units to South Africa," TKM Deputy Managing Director Marketing Sandeep Singh said.

Nissan Motor India said its sales for July increased by over two-fold at 3,481 units. It had witnessed sales of 1,593 units in the same month last year.