May Brings Cheer For Car Firms, But Sluggishness Seen

May has given a good run for car companies compared with April. Four sector majors -- Hyundai, Honda Siel, Hindustan Motors and General Motors -- who released their car sales figures for May here today have reported higher month on month sales numbers.

Officials at Maruti Udyog, too, said their May sales were higher than April. Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) has recorded an 8 per cent growth in its car sales in May compared with the same month last fiscal.

HMIL sold 8,109 units in May 2001 against 7,522 cars sold in May 2000. The company had sold 7,203 cars in April 2001.

General Motors India (GMI) reported a 11 per cent growth in sales at 622 cars during May 2001 over 560 cars sold in the same month last year.

The company's sales included 170 units of the premium mid-sized car -- Opel Astra -- and 452 units of the mid-size car -- Opel Corsa. GMI's May sales were up by 8 per cent compared to 575 cars sold in April this year.

P Balendran , vice president, corporate affairs, GMI, said despite improved sales, the car market is still sluggish. "We expect it to pick up July onwards," he said.

Honda Siel Cars India Ltd, on the other hand, reported a 21.3 per cent drop in its May 2001 car sales at 710 units over 903 units sold in May 2000. The May sales, however, went up by 15 per cent when compared with the April 2001 figures. Honda Siel Cars had sold 617 units in April.

Hindustan Motors Ltd (HM) has recorded a 42 per cent drop in car sales at 1,224 units in May 2001 over 2,111 units sold in the same month last year.

The company's May sales were down by a marginal 3.6 per cent when compared with 1,270 cars sold in April this year due to a fall in sales of the Ambassador.

HERO REVS UP: Motorcycle maker Hero Honda Motors Ltd has posted a 27.7 per cent rise in sales at 1.05 lakh units in May 2001 over 82,280 units sold in the year-ago month.

The May sales were an increase of 8.7 per cent compared with 96,672 units sold in April this year. Cumulative sales (April-May 2001-02) stood at 2.01 lakh units, up 24.5 per cent as against 1.61 lakh units sold in the fiscal.

During 2000-01, the company had sold 10.29 lakh motorcycles thereby becoming the largest seller of motorycles among all Honda ventures and alliances in the world.