Mixed bag for auto players in April but no Mayday cries (Roundup)

Major four and two wheeler makers opened the new fiscal (2015-16) with good sales growth in April 2015 though challenges like high interest rates and demand in rural markets not picking up remaining to stunt the growth, said industry and company officials.

However, no company has cried 'Mayday' on the first day of May.

While car market leader Maruti Suzuki India Ltd logged 29.6 percent growth in the four wheeler segment, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India closed last month with nine percent growth.

Interestingly the two wheeler industry is expected to log de-growth in April 2015.

"The overall customer sentiment has not picked up as expected and the rural markets are also facing challenging times. The fuel price hike last night is also expected to impact demand going forward," said P. Balendran, vice president, General Motors India.

"We expect the interest rates to be reduced in phases and some of the reform-oriented announcements made by the government to be implemented in a timely manner to aid economic recovery," he added.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd's senior vice president (sales and marketing) Rakesh Srivastava too said the market conditions are challenging especially in rural markets.

The country's leading car maker, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, began the new fiscal on a very positive note, closing April with a 29.6 percent sales growth over the corresponding period of the previous year, the company said.

The company sold 111,748 units last month up from 86,196 units sold in April 2014.

Last month, the company derived the bulk of its sales from Swift, DZire, Ritz, Celerio accounting for 42,297 units.

On the other hand, the small car models -- Alto, WagonR -- accounted for 35,403 units logging 35.9 percent sales growth over April 2014.

Maruti Suzuki experienced negative growth in the utility vehicles segment selling 4,452 units as against 5,011 units sold in April 2014.

The company also logged increased sales of its two van models -- Omni and Eeco -- last month with 12,069 units up from 8,322 units sold in April 2014.

India's second largest car maker Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) logged a marginal 2.6 percent sales growth.

The company said it sold 51,505 units (domestic 36,601 units, exports 12,904 units) last month up form 50,222 units (domestic 35,248 units, exports 14,974 units) sold in April 2014.

"Hyundai with a volume of 38,601 units continued the growth momentum with 9.5 percent increase over last year on the strength of strong and young product portfolio led by 12,425 units of Elite i20 and i20 Active in a challenging market conditions especially in the rural market," said Srivastava.

The Indian subsidiary of the US automobile company General Motors closed last month with a total sales of 3,612 units down from 5,302 units sold in April 2014.

In the two wheelers segment, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India opened the new fiscal with nine percent sales growth at a time when the overall industry is experiencing a de-growth.

The company said it closed last month selling 340,791 units up from 313,894 units sold in April 2014.

According to Honda Motorcycle and Scooter, it logged growth last month at a time when the overall two wheeler industry is expected to log four percent de-growth.

The company expects the industry to close last month with a total sales of 1,448,646 units down from 1,506,343 units sold in April 2014.