As Bajaj Auto Ltd on Monday reported an 11% increase in its total vehicle sales at 512,038 units in October, Twitter users wondered about Rajiv Bajaj's claims last week that the company’s 100 cc motorcycles were down 30%.
Bajaj told CNBC-TV18 that he was not upbeat about demand coming back during the rest of the fiscal year. Slamming the “draconian lockdown” which hit the demand, Bajaj had said that two-wheeler industry had also taken a big cost increase because of regulations such as ABS, BS 6 etc.
Meanwhile, the company said in a regulatory filing that it sold 512,038 units in October, up 11% from last year's sales of 463,208 units in the same month last year.
Domestic sales stood at 281,160 units last month, as against 278,776 units in October last year, up 1%, it added.
Motorcycle sales grew by 18% at 470,290 units, compared to 398,913 units in the year-ago month, its highest ever sales. Bajaj Auto said during October, Pulsar brand recorded sales of over 170,000 units.
Commercial vehicle sales stood at 41,746 units, as against 64,295 in the corresponding month last year, a decline of 35%, the company said.
Total vehicle exports in October were at 230,878 units, as compared to 184,432 units in the same month a year ago, up 25%, Bajaj Auto said.
Hero MotoCorp said it recorded its highest-ever monthly sales in October at over 8 lakh units of motorcycles and scooters. In total, it sold 8,06,848 units last month, 35 per cent higher than 5,99,248 units sold in October last year.
Twitter users slammed Rajiv Bajaj for making claims contrary to the sales figures.
Car sales also grew rapidly in the month with Maruti Suzuki India and Hyundai Motor India posting double digit growth in October wholesales on the back of pent up demand and improved buying sentiment in the festive season.
Honda Cars India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor and Mahindra & Mahindra also reported growth in domestic passenger vehicle sales last month.
The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said its sales increased by 19.8 per cent in the domestic market last month to 1,72,862 units compared with 1,44,277 units in October 2019.
(With agencies)
