Indian auto makers post good sales growth in August

NEW DELHI/CHENNAI - Ahead of the festival season, Indian automobile manufacturers reported robust sales numbers in August, gaining from higher incomes, low-cost loans and launches of new models, especially in the small car segment, in a growing economy.

The country’s car market leader Maruti Suzuki in the period posted its highest ever monthly sales with a 23.6 percent growth which stood at 104,791 units as compared to 84,808 vehicles for the like period of 2009.

The company had employed an aggressive marketing strategy to gain its lost benchmark 50 percent share of the domestic car market by launching six cars, including Alto-K10 and five compressed natural gas (CNG) models across segments.

The domestic sales of the auto major grew by 32.5 percent at 92,674 units in August as compared to 69,961 cars for the corresponding period of last year. While the domestic sales boomed, exports reported a decline of 18.4 percent at 12,117 units from 14,847 units in August last year.

According to the company, its sales of compact car A2 segment which comprises of Alto, Wagon-R, Zen, Swift, Ritz and A-Star grew at 25.7 percent and stood at 65,953 units over the like period last year.

The three Chennai-based car manufacturers- Hyundai, Ford and Nissan- also closed last month with good gains.

The country’s second largest car manufacturer, Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) also reported a 17.2 percent growth in sales with 50,636 units in August as against 49,521 units in the corresponding period of last year.

“We expect the demand in the domestic market to be even stronger in the coming festival season.” said Arvind Saxena, director - marketing and sales, HMIL.

The domestic sales of HMIL accounted for 28,601 units as against 24,401 units in the like period of 2009. While exports declined by 12.3 percent from 25,120 units in August, 2009 to 22,035 units in August, 2010.

The company said it sold 45,804 A2 segment cars which include Santro, i10 and i20 sold, while its A3 Segment cars like Accent and Verna sold about 4,806 units and A5 segment’s Sonata at 26 units.

Driven by its new model Figo, Ford India also closed last month by tripling its sales. The company sold 7,925 vehicles which was a 220 percent increase compared to the same period in 2009.

The company sold 54,676 vehicles so far this year which is a 195 percent increase compared to the like period of January - August last year.

Nissan Motor India said it sold 1,249 units for August out of which 1,182 units were accounted by its new small car Micra and the balance comprised of models like Teana, X-trail and 370Z accounted for 21, 44 and 2 respectively.

The company hopes to start car exports this month.

General Motors too reported a robust upswing in sales at 7,941 units in August, up 34 percent from same month last year, when the company sold 5,939 units.

The increase in the sales was primarily driven by the Chevrolet Beat, Spark (both hatchbacks) and its sedan Cruze.

Sales of Chevrolet Spark stood at 2,481 units, Chevrolet Beat at 2475 units and Cruze at 724 units.

TVS Motor Company closed August with a 34 percent sales growth as compared to the previous year’s corresponding period.

The company logged growth in all the three segments- motor cycles, scooters and three wheelers, the company sold 170,735 units last month, up from 127,875 units sold in August 2009.

India’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer Hero Honda reported a growth of 2 percent at 4,24,617 units as against 4,15,137 units for August, 2010.