The Hindu Business Line : Auto sales: Mixed bag in November

The eagerly awaited automobile sales numbers for the festival month of November have been a mixed bag for vehicle makers who have so far released their numbers.

Continuing the previous trend, auto makers with new product launches and aggressive marketing initiatives have reported better numbers than the rest.

Maruti Suzuki, aided by the success of the recently launched Swift Diesel and SX4 (both introduced to the market in 2007) and discounts offered under various campaigns such as ‘Smile India’ and ‘Wheels of India’ has shown a 27 per cent year-on-year growth in November.

Similarly, Hero Honda reported positive growth in sales for the fourth straight month, aided by new launches and discounts offered in the entry-level segment.

However, due to a delay in the launch of new models the ‘Flame’, TVS Motors’ numbers have continued to disappoint. Bajaj Auto’s year-on-year sales were also marginally lower on account of production closure during the busy Diwali season.

It appears that the festival fever did not really aid all the players, as the trends in vehicle sales for November were not significantly better than that of the previous months.

Numbers in the next two-three months may be the key to finding out if the two-wheeler industry has put the slowdown behind it, as the interest rate cycle shows signs of peaking out.

Planned launches such as the Flame, Apache RTR 160 and an electric variant of the Scooty would be crucial for players such as TVS Motors. It similarly needs to be seen if capacity expansions for the XCD and an extended discount offer for Platina help Bajaj’s growth move into positive territory.

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