Auto sales find traction in January

The automobile industry couldn’t have hoped for a better start to the year. Most car makers managed to achieve double-digit sales growth in January and two-wheeler makers continued the growth momentum.

With production back on track at its Manesar plant, car market leader Maruti Suzuki reported its first monthly sales growth in nine months. Though domestic sales remained flat at 101,047 units, up 0.6% year on year, buoyant exports helped the company log a 5.2% growth in overall sales during the month. This compared with a drop in December of 13.4% year on year and 7% vis-a-vis November at 92,161 vehicles.

“Maruti’s sales numbers have come as a surprise. The company is enhancing its production and also increasing its diesel engine capacity, which will help in reducing the waiting period on company’s popular models. Going ahead, we expect Maruti’s sales to be back on track,” said Surjit Singh Arora, analyst with Prabhudas Liladher.

The second-largest car maker, Hyundai Motor India, recorded a growth of 11.85% in the domestic market as it sold 33,900 units in January. Exports, however, grew 23%.

Tata Motors’ passenger vehicle division saw sales grow 14% year on year in the domestic market at 36,770 units (34,669 Tata + 2,101 Fiat). Nano sales grew 15%, while Indica and Indigo range of vehicles also gained momentum.

Among others, Toyota Kirloskar Motor grew 89% on the back of new launches.

Mahindra and Mahindra also posted a growth of 20% in the domestic market as the company’s newly launched XUV 500 continued to draw buyers.

However, Volkswagen, Honda Siel and General Motors India posted flat growth.

Jnaneswar Sen, senior vice-president - marketing & sales, Honda Siel Cars India, pointed out that production in January was curtailed on account of the Thailand floods. “Further to our efforts, we have managed to source the crucial components from alternative locations and have already resumed the production of the New City. The production of Brio and Jazz will start from February and we are confident we will achieve peak production output by March 2012,” he said.

In the two-wheeler arena, Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, reported a sales growth of 11.5% at 520,272 units.

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India reported 47% growth in sales at 189,353 units as the scooter division grew almost 60%.
Yamaha India logged a 20% growth in the domestic market.