Auto sales stay strong in Feb on pre-budget buying

The passenger car segment remained buoyant in February 2011 as it continued to post monthly highest-ever sales in the domestic market.

About 189,008 cars were sold in February, 22.63% more than in the same month of the last year, according to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) data.

Utility vehicles (UVs) and multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) recorded a growth of 12% (28,205 units) and 18% (18,308 units), respectively as against the numbers posted in February last year.

However, sales declined on a sequential basis.

“Industry was expecting an excise hike from the budget, which led to increase in primary sales of vehicles. With no change in excise structure, we expect the growth momentum to continue,” said an analyst from Pinc Research.

Overall automobile exports grew 27.5% in February over the year-ago period. Car exports grew 19.3% during the month over same month last fiscal.

Exports of UVs decline 9.2% and MPVs rose by 109% year on year. Nissan exported 12,000 units more than Maruti Suzuki, which dispatched 10,300 cars. Hyundai remained the dominant player with 17,500 units exported in February.

Overall sales at Maruti Suzuki rose 15.5% in February from year ago, while Tata Motors sales grew 12% and Mahindra & Mahindra registered 20% rise.

Other segments also witnessed positive growth rates. However, industry experts feel that the demand has moderated due to high base effect of 2010.

At 64,057 units, commercial vehicle sales registered a growth of 10%.

Three- and two-wheelers sales during February grew 24.03% (49,082 units) and 22.04% (1,022,272 units), respectively.

Vishu Mathur, director general, SIAM, said, “We expect March to be a better month, especially for commercial vehicles since it is the last month of the year. Sales are expected to higher due to depreciation benefits.”