The Hindu Business Line : Car sales rise 8% in Jan

PASSENGER car sales saw a modest single digit growth in the domestic market in January 2005 at 8.17 per cent even as motorcycles continued their strong run, witnessing a 22.8 per cent jump helped by higher demand for Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto bikes.

Domestic passenger car sales stood at 77,743 units in the month against 71,867 units in January 2004, according to figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). Market watchers point out that the slower growth was due to consumer purchases in December itself in anticipation of a price hike, which had been indicated by several car manufacturers.

Flat sales of market leader Maruti Udyog at 38,863 units (38,140) was made up by the double-digit demand rise for Hyundai India and Tata Motor vehicles in the segment.

Meanwhile, the motorcycle segment recorded sales of 435,665 units in the month up from 354,640 units in the same month last year.

In addition to good sales of Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto bikes, growth in the segment was helped by new entrant Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) which recorded bike sales of 11,284 units in the month.

HMSI had a good run in the scooter/scooterette segment as well with its sales jumping by 36.6 per cent sales jump to 38,720 units (28,338) in January 2005. Overall though the segment saw a dip in sales to 70,490 units from 73,905 units in January last year, due to declining sales of players such as Bajaj Auto, and LML.

The commercial vehicle segment kept up its good run with domestic sales in January growing 17,7 per cent to 29,630 units in January as against 25,154 units in the same month last year.

The growth was driven by sales of medium & heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCVs). The segment grew 19 per cent to 18,666 units in January against 15,674 units in the year-ago period. Light commercial vehicles (LCVs), on the other hand, saw a 15.6 per cent growth in the month.

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