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Our Bureau

New Delhi, Oct. 1

Though the festival season is yet to gather steam, leading car maker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd posted a 11 per cent growth in September, with sales at 63,086 units in the domestic market as against 56,606 units sold in the same period last year. The company recorded a 55 per cent growth in exports at 4,362 units, up from 2,814 units in the same period last year.

With buoyant sales of its recently launched SX4, the A3 segment, which includes both sales of Esteem and SX4, recorded 43 per cent growth at 4,885 units (3,410 units). Its A2 segment that includes models like Alto, Wagon R, Zen and Swift also recorded 21.8 per cent growth with sales at 46,126 units during the month.

Hyundai Motors India Ltd, which had been witnessing almost flat or marginal decline in its sales over the last few weeks, showed a 9 per cent increase in its domestic sales. But the company, the country’s largest exporter, saw a decline in its export sales figures during the month, with exports at 9,505 units (10,076 units).

“The auto industry has grown by 6 per cent over August this year. The disappointment has been with the two-wheeler industry that registered 14 per cent decline in sales. However, it is showing signs of improvement,” said Mr N.R. Narayanan, Group Business Head, Vehicle Finance, ICICI Bank.

Mahindra & Mahindra’s sales of commercial vehicles, including its recently launched Logan, grew at 24.9 per cent in the domestic market, with a marginal increase in exports at 1,302 units (1,055 units).

For Tata Motors sales remained flat for commercial vehicles and in the passenger vehicles segment it stood at 17,006 units, a decline of 8.6 per cent over the same period last year. Yet, the company’s exports increased at 4,305 vehicles, up by 16 per cent as compared to 3,727 vehicles in the previous fiscal.

The country’s largest selling two wheeler manufacturer Hero Honda has bounced back after recording negative or stagnant sales over the last few months, ever since the two wheeler industry began experiencing a slowdown. However, Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors continue to witness declining sales amid the impact of high interest rates and a postponement in the festival season.

Bajaj, despite having just launched its new bike Bajaj XCD, which recorded sales of 18,131 units in first month of its launch, recorded a dip in sales in the domestic market. On the export front, however, the company registered a 30 per cent growth at 48,048 units (37,088 units).

TVS Motors’ motorcycles sales fell in contrast to its scooter-scooterette segment, which showed a marginal growth of 27,199 units as compared to 24,890 units last year. TVS exported 13,036 units recording a growth of 26 per cent over last year.

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