Auto sales on recovery path in January

Showing signs of recovery from the demonetisation blues, automobile manufacturers including Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Toyota and Nissan today reported robust passenger vehicle sales growth in January.
Car market leader Maruti Suzuki India said its domestic sales stood at 1,33,934 units, up 25.9 per cent from 1,06,383 in January last year.
The company's sales growth was spread across mini and compact cars and utility vehicles segments.
Sales of mini segment cars, including, Alto and WagonR, grew by 10.9 per cent to 37,928 units during the month under review compared with 34,206 in January 2016.
In the compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Ritz, Dzire and Baleno jumped 25.2 per cent to 55,817 units last month as against 44,575 in the year-ago month, MSI said in a statement.

Sales of utility vehicles, including Gypsy, Grand Vitara, Ertiga, S-Cross and compact SUV Vitara Brezza surged 101 per cent to 16,313 units in January, from 8,114 in the same month of 2016, it added.

Rival Hyundai Motor India's domestic sales grew by 10.5 per cent at 42,017 units last month as compared to 38,016 units in January last year.
Likewise, Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported a 21 per cent increase in domestic sales in January at 10,336 units as compared with 8,511 units sold in January last year.
"Three months into demonetisation and we can slowly see that the market is reviving with increased footfalls and customer enquiries," Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) Director and Senior VP, Sales and Marketing, N Raja said.

Similarly, Nissan Motor India saw its January domestic sales jump by 62.89 per cent at 4,346 units as against 2,668 vehicles sold in the same month last year.
"We have started the new year on a positive note. Despite the challenging market conditions, we have seen a substantial year-on-year growth in January which signifies strong customers response and trust in the Nissan and Datsun brands," Nissan Motor India Managing Director Arun Malhotra said.
Homegrown auto major Tata Motors said its passenger vehicles sales in the domestic market grew 21 per cent to 12,907 units last month on the back of robust sales of hatchback Tiago.

However, for Mahindra & Mahindra domestic sales were down 9 per cent at 37,042 units last month as compared with 40,693 in January 2016.
"The auto industry continues to see mixed reactions and some of the segments including the rural market and the commercial vehicles category continue to face challenging times," M&M Chief Executive (auto division) Pravin Shah said.
Nissan Motor India today reported 24.86 per cent
increase in domestic sales in February at 4,807 units as against 3,850 sold in the same month last year.
Home-grown utility vehicles major Mahindra & Mahindra, however, reported a 2.26 per cent decline in its domestic market at 40,414 units last month compared to 41,348 in February 2016.

"The auto industry is seeing some positive trends emerging over the last two months. With rural sentiment improving, we believe there will be a turnaround in demand over the next few months for small commercial vehicles space," M&M Chief Executive (auto division) Pravin Shah said.
In the two-wheeler segment, Royal Enfield, the two-wheeler division of Eicher Motors, reported an 18.88 per cent jump in total sales at 58,439 units in February as against 49,156 in the same month last year.