Indian automobile sector’s February sales soar (Roundup)

NEW DELHI/CHENNAI - The Indian automobile industry Tuesday reported good sales numbers for the month of February, prompted by a growing economy, increasing disposable incomes and low interest rates.

Market leader Maruti Suzuki’s sales increased by 15.5 percent in last month with 1,11,645 units being sold as compared to 96,650 vehicles sold in February 2010.

In the domestic market, the company’s sales increased by 19.8 percent at 1,01,543 units as against 84,765 units in the corresponding period of 2010.

However, the company’s exports fell by 15 percent to 10,102 units from 11,885 units in the like period of last year.

Segment-wise, the company reported a growth of 19.4 percent for its compact car segment A2 at 72,090 units. Cars in this category include Alto, Wagon-R, Zen, Swift, Ritz and A-Star.

Tata Motors also reported good sales figure for last month, with an increase of 11.69 percent at 77,543 units from 69,427 units in the like period of last year.

The automobile giant’s passenger vehicles sales grew by 18.25 percent in the domestic market, which stood at 31,909 units from 26,985 in February 2010. The company’s total exports in the month increased by 39.14 percent at 4,504 units from 3,237 units in February 2010.

Segment-wise, the sales of its entry-level compact car Nano zoomed by 101 percent, and stood at 8,262 units in February.

The company further reported an increase of 22 percent for its Indigo brand with sales of 8,966 units, while the sales of Indica cars declined by 12.7 percent at 10,044 units.

The commercial vehicles sales in the domestic market grew by 4.91 percent at 41,130 compared to 39,205 units in the like period of 2010.

According to Tata Motors, the cumulative sales for the company for this fiscal stands at 719,959 units up from 567,535 units sold last year.

Chennai-based automobile major Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) reported a decline of 4.8 percent in its sales for February, with 52,007 units sold as against 54,610 units in the corresponding period of 2010.

The company’s domestic sales picked up by 5.3 percent at 32,629 units as compared to 31,001 units in the corresponding period of last year.

“Hyundai recorded positive growth supported by steady sales of its compact cars. We expect the average industry growth rate to stabilise in the future months,” HMIL’s director (marketing and sales) Arvind Saxena said.

The company, which is the largest exporter of cars in the country, reported a dip of 17.9 percent in its exports for February at 19,378 units as against 23,609 units in February 2010.

Segment-wise sales were led by the company’s compact cars, which includes Santro, i10, and i20, and stood at 47,167 units.

Meanwhile, the Chennai-based Indian subsidiary of American auto major Ford recorded a 188 percent sales growth in February over the corresponding period in 2010, mainly driven by Figo, its compact car model.

Ford India sold 9,293 vehicles in February as compared to 3,223 in 2010.

“The phenomenal Figo has taken Ford to a new level in India,” said Michael Boneham, president and managing director of Ford India. The company has sold over 76,000 Figos since its 2009 launch.

According to him, the company will soon launch its all new Fiesta, a premium sedan, the first of the eight new models slated to be launched by the middle of this decade.

Two- and three-wheeler manufacturer TVS Motor came out with stellar sales figure for February with an increase 24 percent over the corresponding period of 2010.

The company sold 177,412 units (173,200 two-wheelers, 4,212 three-wheelers) last month as against 142,676 units (140,544 two-wheelers, 2,132 three-wheelers) in February 2010.

Within the two-wheeler segment, TVS Motor sold 40,335 scooters, 71,462 motorcycles and 61,403 mopeds last month. The company also exported 24,036 two- and three-wheelers.

The company’s cumulative sales for April 2010 to February 2011 stood at 1,855,460 units.