The Hindu Business Line : Happy drive for cars in July

CAR sales increased by 37.7 per cent in July as companies such as Maruti and Hyundai saw higher sales driven by aggressive finance schemes and discounts.

Analysts point out that the slew of new model launches in the market over the past few months has been able to generate and maintain consumer interest in the category.

Sales continued to increase for the fourth consecutive month of the fiscal and rose to 59,800 units in July from 43,434 units in the corresponding month last year, data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed.

Market leader Maruti Udyog, driven by sales of its bread-and-butter model, the Maruti 800, saw a more than 60 per cent increase in its sales. Sales of the Maruti 800 almost doubled in the period to 16,399 units in July from 8,932 units in July 2002.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor India saw about 26.4 per cent increase in sales to 11,150 units in July from 8,819 units in July 2002. Tata Motors saw its sales growing by about 14 per cent to 9,707 units in July (8,520 units), mainly on account of demand for its mid-sized car, Indigo.

Sale of commercial vehicles too zoomed ahead in July rising by 43.8 per cent to 19,280 units from 13,405 units in July 2002. Both heavy and light commercial vehicles posted growth during the period.

Demand for truck sales has been driven by the increase in construction activities, particularly the National Highway development project. Almost all the major companies including Ashok Leyland and Tata Motors saw an improved performance in the period.

In the two-wheeler segment, sale of motorcycles and step-throughs went up by 21.4 per cent to 3,01,675 units, while that of scooters and scooterettes increased by a marginal 1.8 per cent to 78,176 units.

In the motorcycle and step-through segment, market leader Hero Honda Motors clocked a 2.9 per cent increase to 1,38,038 units while sales of Bajaj Auto increased by 22.3 per cent to 75,597 units.

Bike major TVS Motor Company saw its sales more than double to 55,499 units in July 2003. The scooter and scooterette segment grew largely on account of higher sales posted by Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India. The company's sales grew by more than a 100 per cent to 24,812 units in the period.

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