Maruti, Honda lead car sales surge in August

However, Mahindra, Toyota Kirloskar, Ford and GM saw decline in their sales

Auto majors Maruti Suzuki, Honda Cars, Hyundai and Nissan reported healthy growth in domestic sales riding on an improved sentiment in the market.

Other manufacturers, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Ford India and General Motors, however, saw decline in their sales in the domestic market during the month.

The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said its August domestic sales grew by 29.3% to 98,304 units, up from 76,018 units in the same month last year.

The company's sales were driven by the compact cars, comprising Swift, Estilo, Celerio, Ritz and Dzire, which zoomed 53.2% at 46,759 units as against 30,512 units in the year-ago month.

Sales of mini passenger cars, including Alto, A-Star and WagonR were up 8.3% at 34,686 units as against 32,019 units in the previous year.

Rival Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) saw its domestic sales grow by up 19.2% at 33,750 units last month as compared to 28,311 units in August 2013.

Commenting on the sales performance, HMIL Senior Vice President (Sales and Marketing) Rakesh Srivastava said the company continued to build on the positive momentum with good response for the new products such as Elite i20, Xcent and the Grand i10.

"We maintain a cautious optimism for a good festive season on the strength of new products, increase in demand for petrol cars and improving customer sentiments," he added.

Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) reported 88% jump in domestic sales in August 2014 at 16,758 units as against 8,913 units the same month last year.

HCIL Senior Vice-President (Marketing and Sales) Jnaneswar Sen said: "We are extremely happy to witness consistent growth for Honda cars month after month. The festive season has already set-in and will bring further cheer to the market. We are geared up for strong sales in coming months."

Another Japanese auto major Nissan reported 60.3% increase in its sales in India at 3,999 units during the month as against 2,494 units in August 2013.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), however, 6.59% decline in domestic sales at 11,215 units in August 2014, as compared to 12,007 units in the same month last year.

TKM Senior Vice President (Sales and Marketing) N Raja said the company was looking forward to increased demand in the coming months due to the festive season.

Homegrown utility vehicles major M&M's domestic sales went down by 5.72% to 33,145 units last month as against 35,159 units a year earlier.