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Recession or no recession, automobile manufacturers are having a honeymoon time in India. Brisk sales in domestic markets and buoyant exports have kept their spirits high.
Car manufacturers seem to have a jolly good time in India. Increased exports and sales in the local market have aided car manufacturers- Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Mahindra and Mahindra – register a robust growth rate in domestic sales for the month of August 2009. In hindsight, the growth was obviously inevitable, given the fact, in July 2009; the total passenger vehicle industry grew by nearly 10%.
Maruti Suzuki’s domestic sale clocked an impressive 20% increase, as against the sales in the corresponding period last year. Maruti, which has established its stronghold in the domestic market with 50% share, sold 69,961 vehicles, which is reportedly the highest volume achieved so far in the current financial year.
Maruti exports which mainly comprise the A-star--5th exclusive model, designed for the European markets--clocked a swashbuckling growth of 156%. In August, this year the company exported 14,847 cars.
Analysts inform that Maruti’s high growth trajectory is probably backed by the rising popularity of A-star and Ritz. A-star, which was launched last year, enjoys a brisk sale of 3,000 units per month. Ritz which was launched for the domestic markets, sells 6000 units.
According to a source, the other important factor, which helped car sales surge, is the car loans made available by PSU banks, like SBI, which begin at an interest rate of 8%. Maruti is anticipating that company’s sales will grow by 10% this financial year. Initially, the company has pegged the growth rate at 5%.
Hyundai, considered the second largest player, managed to sell 24,401 units in the local markets, a 13% rise over the last year. The company exported around 25,120 units of cars in August, a growth of 9%.
Now with the onset of the festival season, we are expecting the sales to surge further, informed Hyundai Motor India Ltd Vice-Pesident Arvind Saxena. However, sales may get punctuated if interest rates being to rise, apart from the insufficient rains which bright bring down the rural sales further.
Mahindra & Mahindra’s sales rose by 42%, largely due to the increase in demand for its utility vehicle Xylo, which was launched this year. The company reportedly sold 16,631, vehicles in August this year, as compared to 11,731 units sold last year.
However, Mahindra Renault’s sales for August plummeted by 68%. The company had sold 469 units during this month.
Honda Siel sold 4,102 cars in July 2009, a 4% rise over the last year. The company sold 1,029 units of Jazz, which was launched this year. Company sources say that there is a good demand for this top model.
Skoda Auto India registered a 33% growth in domestic sales, selling 1, 463 units of cars. The company sources say, that its premium model Skoda Superb and executive models like Octavia and Laura have high demand in the market.
Tata Motors clocked 11.32% rise in sales, with the company selling 17,364 units of Nano, Indica, Indigo and utility vehicle Safari. The company apparently sold 2,501, units of Nano in July 2009. Commercial vehicle sales grew by 28%. Nearly 29,762 commercial vehicles were sold in the month of August.
One noteworthy feature observed in August sales is the positive growth observed in the medium and heavy commercial vehicles segment. The segment witnessed a growth of 10%, with 11,118 units of trucks being sold. This is the second consecutive month; this segment observed positive growth.
Nonetheless, total automobile exports of Tata Motors, comprising passenger and commercial vehicles, plummeted by 44% to 2,684 units.
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