The Indian automobile industry remained sluggish in May with all the three major car makers -- Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Hyundai Motors -- reporting lower sales in the month, on the back of uncertainty on macro-economic growth, rising diesel prices and high interest rates. On the export front, Hyundai Motors edged up.
Maruti Suzuki
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. reported May total sales, including exports, of 84,677 vehicles, down by 14 percent from the 98,884 units last year.
In the domestic market, the company reported sales of 77,821 units, down by 13 percent from last year's 89,478 units in the corresponding month of last year, while exports stood at 6,856 units, lower by 27 percent than the 9,406 units in May 2012.
Under the passenger vehicles category, Mini segment comprising M800, Alto, A-Star, WagonR had sales of 31,427 units during the month, up by five percent from the 29,895 units a year-ago, while Compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, and Ritz fell by 29 percent to 17,147 vehicles from the 24,290 units last year.
Sales of DZire coming under Super Compact segment were 17,265 units, lower by three percent than the 17,707 units in May last year, while sales of SX4 in Mid-size segment were 503 units, up by 24 percent from the 405 units last May. Sales of Kizashi in the Executive segment during May 2012 stood at 12 units.
Cumulative sales, including exports, for the first two months of the current fiscal, were 181,979 units, down by nine percent from the 199,299 units in the corresponding period a year ago.
Tata Motors
Total sales for Tata Motors, including exports, were 49,304 units, down by 23 percent from the 64,347 units sold in last May. Cumulative sales (including exports) for the fiscal were 100,464 units, compared with 124,433 units, a decline of 19 percent.
Domestic sales of commercial vehicles were 34,296 units, a drop of 13 percent, compared to the 39,625 units sold in May last year.
Sales of passenger vehicles in the domestic market were 11,134 units, a 46 percent decline, compared to the 20,503 vehicles sold last year.
Exports came down to 3,874 vehicles last month from 4,219 units in May 2012, registering a eight percent drop.
Hyundai Motor
Hyundai Motor India Ltd., the country's second largest car manufacturer and the largest passenger car exporter, reported total sales of 56,856 units in May, compared to 55,669 units in May last year, registering a two percent growth.
Domestic sales accounted for 32,102 units, flat from last year's 32,010 units, while exports during the month were up by five percent to 24,754 units from the 23,659 in last May.
HMIL Senior Vice-President (Sales & Marketing) Rakesh Srivastava said, "Hyundai has been able to maintain positive growth and will gain in market share in a market that is at the near bottom level and is expected to move into positive growth in the coming months as the demand for the petrol cars is improving."
Describing the market situation as "challenging times," he said the company had been able to increase export volumes and it continued to get strong demand from the non-European markets.
At BSE Sectoral indices, the auto sector was up by 2.98 percent at 11.24 hrs. (IST) on Monday.
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