Festive cheer eludes car makers

Combined October sales growth for top eight firms flat over a year before; industry says buoyancy missing in market; tapering demand for diesel-powered models take toll on M&M, Tata Motors

The festive season has failed to bring cheer to car makers in the India market. The combined sales of eight leading companies which reported their numbers on Friday were shown to have dipped two per cent to 210,375 units last month over October 2012.

While sales growth for the leading duo, Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor India, was flat in October, the industry numbers were dragged down by a poor show from Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Tata Motors.

The country’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki, registered a tepid demand for both entry-level and compact hatchbacks, with monthly sales at 96,062 units in October. The company had sold 96,002 vehicles in October 2012. The only product with buoyant offtake was the Dzire. Sales of the sedan grew 19.6 per cent to 17,211 units last month as compared to 14,389 units in October 2012. (AUTO SALES TRACKER)

For Korea’s Hyundai, sales grew marginally by 0.6 per cent to 36,002 units. The company, however, said the volumes had improved sequentially over September, by 17 per cent, due to good demand, driven by satisfactory monsoons, the festive boom and a new model, the Grand (11,519 units sold, said Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice-president, sales & marketing).

The tapering demand for diesel-powered models took its toll on M&M and Tata Motors, both with a strong portfolio of diesel products. Sales for M&M declined 15 per cent to 22,942 units, while volumes for Tata Motors shrank by a third to 14,133 vehicles. “The auto sector has witnessed a de-growth of nearly five per cent during the first half of 2013-14 and the recent repo rate hike may prove to be a dampener for potential customers. The auto industry continues to look forward to an immediate support in terms of a stimulus package to perk it, as well as bring back the growth momentum for the economy in general & the automotive sector in particular,” said Pravin Shah, chief executive (automotive division) at M&M.

General Motors and Toyota Kirloskar, which had some growth during the month, remained cautious of the volatile sentiment in the home market. P Balendran, vice-president, GM India, said: “The marginal sales rebound seen last month is on account of the festival season, combined with the emerging demand for new entries. Discounts are at a peak and sales of diesel vehicles are tapering, as the price differential between the two fuels is dropping sharply. Going by the market scenario, we expect the challenging times to continue, as the general economic conditions have not improved. The buoyancy in the market is completely missing and we don’t see any sustained market upturn before a new government assumes office after general elections.” GM sold 7,715 units during October, an increase of 14 per cent over the 6,754 units in the year-ago period.

Honda and Ford, which have launched new products (Amaze and EcoSport) recently, bucked the trend and continued to see good traction. While sales for Honda Cars India (HCIL) grew 39 per cent to 11,214 units, those of Ford went up 20.9 per cent to 9,163 units. In fact, for Honda, the Amaze contributed as much as 85 per cent to the monthly sales volume. “HCIL is starting a third shift for production in our Greater Noida plant from this month, to reduce the waiting period and aid in quick delivery of cars.” said Jnaneswar Sen, senior vice-president (marketing & sales).