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February proved to be a good month for some of the automobile companies as they saw positive numbers in sales, mainly led by price cuts during middle of the month, post the excise duty cut announcement in the ‘vote-on-account’ Budget.
Country's largest passenger carmaker Maruti Suzuki India sold 99,758 units in the domestic market in February, up 1.80 per cent as compared with 97,955 units in the same month last year.
Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) recorded marginal up in sales at 34,005 units sold during the month as against 34,002 units in the same month last year.
“Post the reduction in excise duty, enquiry inflow has increased with February sales, with a growth of two per cent over the earlier month and it is expected that this would lead towards creation of a positive momentum,” Rakesh Srivastava, Senior vice President - Sales and Marketing, HMIL, said.
Mainly led by the new ‘City’, premium cars manufacturer Honda Cars India (HCIL) recorded more than 100 per cent (123%) in domestic sales with 14,543 units in February, as compared with 6,510 units sold in the corresponding month last year.
“The deliveries for the petrol City have begun from February and with both our car manufacturing plants in operation, it will aid in quick delivery of cars and cater to the strong demand from our customers,” Jnaneswar Sen, Senior Vice President – Marketing and Sales, HCIL, said.
Ford India’s domestic sales in February also grew by 51 per cent with 6,799 units from 4,490 units a year earlier as demand for Ford’s products continued to remain steady this month.
“New pricing and features of Ford Classic and Wi-Fi capability on the Figo have received an encouraging response from customers, alongside continued demand for the EcoSport,” Vinay Piparsania, Executive Director of Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford India, said.
Sales of Tata Motors’ passenger vehicles also grew by 10 per cent in February to 11,325 units as compared with 10,613 units in same month last year.
However, Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s (TKM) sales dropped by 21 per cent to 10,100 units last month as compared to 12,756 units in February 2013.
“The excise duty cut was a welcome step taken by the Government to revive sale. However, other factors like high interest rate, falling rupee and unstable fuel pricing still loom large in the market,” N Raja, Senior Vice - President, Sales and Marketing, TKM, said.
Major utility vehicles manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra also recorded a decline of 18 per cent in its passenger vehicles’ sales to 19,308 units during last month as against 23,421 units sold in February last year.
Two- Wheelers
In the two-wheelers segment, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India reported a 44 per cent growth in sales at 3,28,521 units for February, as against 2,28,444 units in the corresponding month last year.
TVS Motor Company also recorded an increase of three per cent growth at 147,580 units in February as compared with 142,800 units in February 2013.
Commercial Vehicles
In the commercial vehicles segment, while M&M reported a drop of three per cent to 14,701 units in the month (15,167 units in February 2013), Tata Motors reported a decline of 49 per cent to 23,990 units in February as against 47,389 units in same month last year.
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