Hope on new Govt revs up auto sales in May

Most automakers reported better domestic sales in May on an annualised basis, led by positive customer sentiments, especially towards the end of the month, after the formation of a new Government at the Centre.

Two-wheeler companies continued the growth trend, with market leader Hero MotoCorp reporting May as its highest-ever sales month for any non-festival period.

In the passenger cars segment, market leader Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai Motor India and Honda Cars India reported more than 10 per cent rise in sales compared with the year-ago period.

While Maruti Suzuki sold 90,560 units in May against 77,821 units a year earlier, Hyundai sold 36,205 units against 32,102 units in May last year. Honda’s sales grew 18 per cent to 13,362 units in May against 11,342 units in the year-ago month. New launches such as Xcent (Hyundai) compact sedan and the diesel variant of Honda City helped these companies improve sales.

Ford India’s sales grew 51 per cent to 6,053 units in the domestic market compared with 4,002 units last year.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) saw its first positive month this calendar year, backed by normalcy in its production and two new launches — Etios Cross and the all new Altis—last month.

The company sold 13,230 units in May (12,502 units a year ago), registering a growth of 6 per cent.

“We have received a good response for the new launches. We started dispatching the new models in May and have registered sales of 555 units and 548 units of Etios Cross and Corolla Altis, respectively,” said N Raja, Director and Senior Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, TKM.

However, General Motors India and two home-grown companies – Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra – continued to see fall in sales.

While GM’s sales declined 43 per cent, Tata and Mahindra saw 17 per cent and 19 per cent drop in sales, respectively.

Commercial vehicles sales of Tata and Mahindra were also in the negative spot.

In the two-wheeler segment, while Hero MotoCorp sold 6.02 lakh units last month (5.58 lakh in May 2013), Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India sold around 3.56 lakh units (2.29 lakh units).

Pulsar maker Bajaj Auto’s sales rose 3 per cent to 3.13 lakh units in May (3.04 lakh units). Similarly, TVS Motor, Suzuki Motorcycle India, and Yamaha Motor India saw growth in sales (see table).