Commercial Vehicle Sales Dip 25% In May

Commercial vehicle sales, net of exports, fell by 25 per cent in May compared with May 2000, according to the latest report by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). Commercial vehicle sales fell from 10,207 to 7,653 during the period.

While medium and heavy commercial sales fell from 6,776 to 4,585 in May 2001, sales of light commercial vehicles dipped from 4,531 to 3,068.

While Tata Engineering sold 3,973 commercial vehicles during the month compared with 6,535 during the year-ago period, Ashok Leyland saw a rise in sales from 2,071 to 2,118 during the period. Also, Mahindra & Mahindra saw its sales fall from 696 in May 2000 to 464 in May 2001, while Eicher Motors Ltd saw a rise in sales from 474 to 540 during the period.

However, the month was good for the rest of the automobile industry. Passenger car sales rose 1.54 per cent from 50,369 in May 2000 to 51,149 in May 2001. While market leader Maruti Udyog saw a sharp pick up in sales from 25,720 to 31,140 during the period, Hyundai Motor India saw sales spurt from 7,561 to 8,109. Daewoo Motors (India), however, saw sales slump from 5,648 in May 2000 to 2,340 in May 2001. Ford India too saw a marginal decline in sales from 1,592 to 1,495.

Sale of multi-utility vehicles improved from 9,745 in May 2000 to 10,779 in May 2001.While both Tata Engineering and Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported a rise in sales, Mahindra & Mahindra, the largest player in the segment, reported a decline.

Two-wheeler sales grew by a little over 7 per cent to 324,795 during May compared with 303,046 during the same month of the previous year. Motorcycles continued their fast paced growth. Companies sold 213,135 motorcycles during May 2001 as compared to 166,676 motorcycles during May 2000.

Even scooter sales reported a marginal rise with sales of 83,653 during May 2001 compared with 82,702 during May 2000. Moped sales however slumped to 30,007 during the month compared with 53,668 during May 2000.

Three-wheeler sales fell to 14,475 during May 2001 compared with 15,565 during May 2000.