Auto sales brisk in Jan but good run may not last

Car and two-wheeler sales were brisk in January but the good run may not last too long.

“With high interest rates and the pressure of food inflation, consumers may put off buying vehicles for sometime now. We expect this trend to continue till end-March,” an auto industry executive said.

And quite unlike previous years, Budget 2011 is not going to make cars and two-wheelers cheaper. In fact, the grapevine suggests that excise duties could be hiked by two percentage points and reinstated to their old levels. Should that be the case, February could see a greater surge at dealerships.

Market leader, Maruti Suzuki continued its good run with January sales totalling 109,743 units, a 14.7 per cent jump from 95,649 units in the same month last year. In the process, the company crossed the one million mark in sales and is on course to close at its targeted 1.2 million cars this fiscal.

Maruti's compact car portfolio comprising the Alto, Swift, Ritz, Wagon R, Zen and A Star took up a lion's share of sales at 72,479 units. The SX4 and DZire sedans chipped in with 11,930 units, while the Omni, Versa and Eeco vans accounted for 13,945 units. Exports, however, fell by over 35 per cent to 9,321 units (14,562).

Rival Hyundai Motor India wrapped up January selling 43,316 cars, a fall of 17.7 per cent from 52,628 units in the same month last year. The international business was a big blow with sales plummeting by nearly 44 per cent to 13,010 units from 23,027 units. The withdrawal of Europe's scrappage scheme was a major reason for this decline and it will be interesting to see how Hyundai makes up in the domestic market where its i10 and i20 models are doing well.

Cause for cheer

Tata Motors had cause for cheer in January thanks largely to the Nano, which accounted for 6,703 units and is tipped to be on the revival path. Overall car sales totalled 32,386 units, 14 per cent higher than 28,460 units last year, thanks to the Indica and Indigo range. However, Fiat's tally has been flat at 2,174 units and this has led experts wondering if the joint retail initiative is helping the Italian carmaker's cause.

Tata's commercial vehicles also had a good month with sales totalling 40,263 units, a 12 per cent jump from 35,957 units in the previous year.

Mahindra & Mahindra reported a 22 per cent increase in overall sales at 36,718 (30,149) units. Its utility-vehicle portfolio comprising the Scorpio, Bolero and Xylo accounted for 16,088 units while the Logan sedan clocked 1,120 units. The pickups did well too with 10,193 units as did the three-wheeler range which posted sales of 6,177 units.

In two-wheelers, Hero Honda ended January with 4.67 lakh (3.89 lakh) units, while TVS Motor reported sales of 1.66 lakh (1.28 lakh) bikes, scooters and three-wheelers. Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India followed with 1.29 lakh (1.19) two-wheelers.