Bajaj Auto sales decline by 1.1%

Bajaj Auto saw sales decline 1.09% to 2,02,042 units in October as against 2,04,281 units in the year-ago month, SIAM said.

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) saw its bike sales decline marginally to 1,61,585 units as against 1,62,204 units in October last year.

Scooter sales continued to do well in October as the segment posted a growth of 36.8% during the month at 5,25,138 units as compared to 3,83,885 units in the same period of previous year.

HMSI maintained its leadership position in the segment, posting a growth of 35.51% at 2,70,302 units as against 1,99,466 units in the corresponding month last year.

Hero MotoCorp sales rose 74.64% to 1,03,913 units in October as against 59,498 units during the same period of previous year.

Chennai-based TVS Motor saw its scooter sales increase 28.56% at 86,459 units in October as against 67,248 units in the same month last year.

Total sales of two-wheelers rose 13.31% last month to 16,56,235 units as against 14,61,712 units in October, 2014.

Sales of commercial vehicles were up 12.73% to 58,596 units during last month, SIAM said.

"We see demand for the light commercial vehicles coming back. We expect commercial vehicle segment to scale peak level by first half of next year," Mathur said.

CV segment had posted peak sales in March 2012, when over 90,000 units were retailed by various automakers.

Vehicle sales across categories registered a 13.91% increase to 20,35,821 units in October from 17,87,160 units in the corresponding month, it added.

Commenting on the sales data, Abdul Majeed, Partner, Price Waterhouse, said, "The numbers across segments are encouraging. OEM's are playing their part in bringing the customers to showrooms with new launches as well as aggressive pricing including discounts."

Additionally, OEM's who are spotting the changing customers preference and launching the new products are growing more than others, he added.

"There are many favourable indicators to propel growth in the automotive sector such as low interest rates, pent up demand across the segment, low fuel prices etc. The remaining part of festival seasons will bring cheers to the automakers," Majeed said.