Domestic sales of most car makers slumped during February as consumer sentiment continued to remain negative on account of high inflation and rising fuel prices.
Makers of small cars were impacted the most. Domestic sales of market leader Maruti Suzuki grew just 2.8% on year, while those of Hyundai, the second-largest, declined 7.62%.
Even the segments of Maruti Suzuki’s largest selling models saw a decline in growth. Its Alto segment (including A-Star and WagonR) logged a 15% degrowth, while the Swift segment (including Estilo and Ritz) declined 13.9% on-year.
“The market was suppressed as there was drop in enquiries with lower rates of conversions to purchase. The increase in fuel prices negatively impacted the already low market sentiment,” said Rakesh Srivastava, vice-president (sales and marketing), Hyundai Motor India.
The company expects the challenge to continue in the next quarter unless there is a significant change in macroeconomic conditions.
Passenger vehicle sales of Tata Motors continued to fall sharply – dropping to 10,613 units compared with 34,832 last year.
Among others, Ford India saw domestic sales decline 44.12%, GM 20%, Toyota 23% and Honda Cars India 26.49%.
Only Mahindra & Mahindra saw a growth in passenger vehicle sales, at 14%.
On the other hand, some of the two-wheeler manufacturers reported growth. Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India reported 10.87% growth in total sales at 2,28,444 units, while India Yamaha Motor saw domestic sales rise 18.66%.
