The Hindu Business Line : Passenger vehicle sales up 8% in Dec

New Delhi, Jan. 8 In anticipation of a series of launches this year and heavy discounts round the year in 2007, passenger vehicles’ sales in December last year grew 8 per cent compared with the same month in 2006.

Maruti Suzuki led the segment posting a growth of 4.55 per cent to 50,056 units during December last year compared with the same month in 2006.

The company’s exports rose 92 per cent to 4,051 units during December. The second largest car maker, Hyundai Motors India bounced back in the domestic market posting a growth of 18.28 per cent to 13,069 units while exports were down 5.7 per cent to 11,586 units.

General Motors reported a two-fold increase in sales to 4,130 units largely driven by high sales of its small car, Spark. “In December, sales usually show a decline because of the plant shut down by some of the car makers and also because of sluggish sales towards the end of the year,” an analyst with a brokerage firm who did not want to be quoted told Business Line.

In the commercial vehicles’ category, the medium and the heavy commercial vehicle segment continued to decline, with sales falling by 5.3 per cent as compared with light commercial vehicles’ segment which recorded a 11 per cent increase primarily led by Tata’s sub-three-tonne Ace.

Two wheelers continued to see a mixed trend with the scooters and scooterettes sales increasing and the motorcycles on a decline.

Hero Honda, the largest motorcycle maker in the country, recorded a 4.9 per cent decline in sales to 2,26,103 units during the last month.

For Bajaj Auto, the fall was sharper at 1,37,980, recording a 15.05 per cent drop in sales. But the company’s exports rose 56.2 per cent to 38,461 units. Similarly, TVS Motor Company, whose sales fell in the domestic market by 26.21 per cent to 38,767 units, registered a 100 per cent jump in its exports to 12,526 units.

The scooters and scooterettes’ segment, however, reported a 9.8 per cent increase in sales to 77,494 units last month.