Car sales in slow lane in Feb, Jat quota stir hits dispatches

Domestic car sales saw a muted growth last month with market leader Maruti Suzuki taking a hit due to the Jat quota stir in Haryana even as Hyundai Motor India and Mahindra saw increase in purchases during the month.
On the other hand, home grown auto major Tata Motors saw its domestic passenger vehicles sales dipping in February.
Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said its domestic sales increased marginally to 1,08,115 units as against 1,07,892 in February 2015.
"During the month, the reservation agitation had disrupted component supplies, causing a temporary suspension of production by the company. Total production loss due to this was over 10,000 units. Despite that, the company was able to achieve marginal growth in domestic sales," MSI said.

Maruti saw sales of mini segment cars, including Alto and WagonR, decline by 11.2 per cent to 35,495 units as compared to 39,988 units in the same month last year.
Sales of the compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Ritz, Dzire and Baleno increased marginally to 42,970 units in February this year as against 42,778 units in the year-ago period.

Rival Hyundai Motor India's domestic sales rose 9.1 per cent to 40,716 units in February compared with 37,305 units in February 2015.
HMIL senior Vice-President (Sales and Marketing) Rakesh Srivastava said the domestic growth was driven mainly by its three model brands -- Creta, Elite i20 and Grand.

The growth has been achieved in spite of logistical challenges for transportation of vehicles to North India and loss of many business days of dealership operations across Haryana, he added.
Home-grown utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra saw its domestic sales growing by 18.41 per cent to 41,348 units last month as against 34,918 in February 2015.
The company's Chief Executive (automotive division) Pravin Shah said the growth has been on the back of the company's range of passenger and commercial vehicles.
Tata Motors saw sales of its passenger vehicles dip by 20 per cent at 10,962 units in February, as against 13,767 units in the same month of previous year.

Renault India's sales zoomed over two-fold to 8,834 units in February as against 3,419 units sold in the same month last year.
Kwid continues to play a pivotal role in the company's expansion plans in India with customer orders crossing the 1,00,000 mark, Renault India said in a statement.
The company said it has ramped up the production capacity at its Chennai plant to meet the growing demand of the product.
Sales of mini segment cars, including, Alto and WagonR,
however declined 8.7 per cent to 36,678 units in the month from 40,159 units in the year-ago month.
The company said sales of the compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Ritz, Dzire and Baleno increased 20.9 per cent to 46,786 units in March this year as against 38,710 units in the same month last year.

Rival Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) sold 41,201 units last month in the domestic market as compared with 39,525 units in March 2015, up 4.2 per cent.
Utility vehicle major Mahindra and Mahindra saw its domestic sales rise up 19 per cent during the last month at 48,967 units compared with 41,105 units in March 2015.
Similarly, Renault India reported 160 per cent jump in its domestic sales at 12,424 units in March. It had sold 4,782 units in the corresponding month last year.
"In a short span of time, we have exponentially grown our reach in terms of sales and network expansion... This month, we recorded our best ever sales figures in India," Renault India Operations Country CEO and Managing Director Sumit Sawhney said.

On outlook he said: "We will continue to maintain this positive momentum as we strategically work towards increasing our market share in India."
However, Honda Cars India reported a 23.2 per cent decline in its domestic sales at 17,430 units in March.
It had sold 22,696 units in the same month last year.
In the two-wheeler segment, market leader Hero MotoCorp posted 14 per cent growth in sales at 6,06,542 units in March as against 5,31,750 units in the same month last year.
For the fiscal ended March 31, the company posted a marginal increase in sales at 66,32,322 units as against 66,31,826 units in the previous year.

Hero MotoCorp Chairman, Managing Director and CEO Pawan Munjal said: "Closing the financial year 2015-16 with augmented leadership at home and expanded global footprint - five years since we commenced our solo journey - is a matter of immense pride and satisfaction for all of us at Hero MotoCorp."
He said the industry witnessed mixed fortunes in FY16 with sales looking up in the second half of the year.
"Timely measures by the government and a good monsoon will be essential in sustaining this positive trend. The journey from here promises to be even more exciting as we gear up to launch our in-house developed products," Munjal added.

Niche bike maker Royal Enfield reported a 52 per cent jump in total motorcycle sales at 51,320 units in March.