Tata Engg Sales In Oct Grew 29%

Tata Engineering saw its domestic sales in October rise by 29 per cent during 2001 compared to 2000, according to the latest monthly sales figures put out by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam). The company sold 13,996 vehicles, which includes cars, multi-utility vehicles and commercial, during October 2001 compared to 10,844 vehicles in October 2000.

During the month, the most substantial gains made by Tata Engineering were in the passenger cars segment. It sold 5,327 cars during October 2001 compared to 2,357 cars in October 2000 -- a jump of 126 per cent. As per the Siam figures, the overall passenger car market grew by 4.33 per cent during the period. Analysts say the higher sales were driven by the new petrol version of the Tata Indica introduced recently.

Commercial vehicle sales of Tata Engineering grew 11.09 per cent from 6,320 in October 2000 to 7021 in October 2001. During the period, commercial vehicle sales registered a growth of 6.72 per cent. Thus, in this segment too, Tata Engineering, the market leader, outperformed the industry.

Within commercial vehicles, Tata Engineering witnessed a 24.56 per cent growth in the sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicle from 3,904 in October 2000 to 4,863 in October 2001, while its light commercial vehicle sales slipped 10.67 per cent from 2,416 to 2,158 during the period.

The overall commercial vehicles market witnessed a similar trend during the month with medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales registering a rise of 15.46 per cent as compared to October 2000, while light commercial vehicle sales fell by 5.24 per cent.

In the multi-utility vehicles segment, Tata Engineering sales fell by 23.95 per cent from 2,167 in October 2000 to 1,648 in October 2001. Overall multi-utility vehicle sales improved marginally by 0.50 per cent during the period. However, the October sales of Tata Engineering's rival, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd, rose by 13.62 per cent from 2118 in October 2000 to 2,452 in October 2001. Thus, while Toyota had sold less multi-utility vehicles than Tata Engineering in October 200, it overtook its rival in October 2001.