New Delhi: Festive celebrations eluded the auto industry in October with major companies such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Mahindra and Toyota Thursday reporting low single-digit sales growth for the month owing to weak market sentiment due to high fuel prices and interest rates.
Honda Cars saw flat sales during the month while Tata Motors and Ford India managed to post healthy sales growth during the month.Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said its domestic sales stood at 1,38,100 units last month, up 1.5 per cent from 1,36,000 units in September last year.
The company witnessed growth in the mini and compact segments which includes models like Alto, Swift and Baleno but saw a dip in sales utility vehicles during the month. Hyundai posted its highest ever sales in a month at 52,001 units in the domestic market last month, up 4.9 per cent from 49,588 units in October last year, led by strong demand for all new Santro and other models like Creta, Elite i20 and Grand i10. Mahindra & Mahindra reported 3 per cent rise in sale of passenger vehicles at 24,066 units as compared with 23,453 units last year.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) reported a 2 per cent increase in sales at 12,606 units in October. 0 as compared with 12,403 units in the same month last year. Honda Cars India’s sales remained flat during the month at 14,233 units as compared with 14,234 units last October. Tata Motors on the other hand reported 11 per cent increase in passenger vehicle sales at 18,290 units last month as compared to 16,475 units in October 2017.
Ford India saw its domestic sales surge over two-fold at 9,044 units in October as against 4,218 units in the year-ago month.
In the two wheeler segment, market leader Hero MotoCorp reported 16.4 per cent rise in total sales at 7,34,668 units for October. It had sold 6,31,105 units in October last year.
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India’s sales rose 12 per cent to 5,21,159 units in October as compared with 4,66,552 units in October 2017. TVS Motor Company posted a 26 per cent rise in total sales at 3,98,427 units in the month as against 3,17,411 units in the same month last year.
Niche bike maker Royal Enfield reported 1 per cent sales growth in total sales 70,451 units in October. It had sold 69,492 units in October last year. On the other hand Suzuki Motorcycle India reported 30.76 jump in sales in October at 65,689 units.
