Led by the country’s largest passenger car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), sales of many automobile manufacturers declined in February due to fuel price hikes and macro-economic conditions.

MSIL’s domestic sales declined by nine per cent to 97,955 units in the month compared with 1.07 lakh units in February last year.

The total sales (including exports) was down by eight per cent to 1.09 lakh units against 1.18 lakh vehicles in the corresponding month last year.

Hyundai Motor India’s domestic sales were down 7.6 per cent to 34,002 units in February compared with 36,805 units in same month last year.

However, its total sales were up 5.4 per cent to 54,665 units against 51,855 units in February last year.

“The market was suppressed as there was drop in enquiries with lower rates of conversions to purchase. We expect the challenge to continue in the next quarter until there is a significant change in macro-economic conditions,” Rakesh Srivastava, Vice-President, sales and marketing, Hyundai, said.

Tata Motors’ passenger vehicle sales were down 70 per cent at 10,613 units from 34,832 units in February last year. It sold 7,769 cars last month against 28,236 a year ago, while utility vehicles accounted for 2,844 units compared with 6,596.

Mahindra & Mahindra’s passenger vehicle sales (utility vehicles and Verito car) increased 14 per cent to 23,421 units from 20,573 units a year ago. Its total domestic vehicle sales were up 10 per cent to 44,399 units.

Ford India’s sales fell 30 per cent to 7,253 units from 10,424 units in the same month last year.

General Motors India’s sales declined by 20 per cent to 7,106 vehicles in the month against 8,901 units sold in the corresponding period last year.

“Now with excise duty also going up for certain categories of vehicles, the market is not expected to improve in the coming months. The hike in excise duty for SUVs which is impacting other models as well has further dampened the growth prospects,” said P. Balendran, Vice- President, General Motors India, said.

Honda Cars India sold 6,510 units during February against 8,856 units sold during the same period last year.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported a 23 per cent decline in domestic sales at 12,756 units compared with 16,659 units in the corresponding month of 2012.

Renault India also grew by nine-fold in its wholesale with 6,723 units against 673 units in February last year.

Two-wheelers

In the two-wheelers segment, Hero MotoCorp’s sales were down by four per cent at 5.01 lakh units sold in February.

The company had sold 5.23 lakh units in the corresponding month last year.

TVS Motor Company also recorded a marginal dip by selling 1.65 lakh units in February as compared with 1.72 lakh units sold in February last year.

However, Yamaha Motor India registered a 19 per cent growth in domestic sales at 32,097 units as compared with 27,050 units sold in February last year.

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India’s sales were up 11 per cent to 2.28 lakh units during the month against 2.06 lakh units sold in the corresponding month last year.

Commercial Vehicles

The sales decline in commercial vehicles continued with Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland and Eicher Motors recording lower sales. Tata Motors sold 47,389 vehicles this February against 51,872 in the same month last year.

Medium & Heavy Commercial Vehicle sales fell to 10,629 units from 19,332 units a year ago, a 45 per cent drop. Ashok Leyland’s total sales were down 10 per cent to 10,046 units in February 2013, with the M&HCV sales falling 26 per cent to 7,045 units.

Eicher Motors recorded sales of 3,690 units in February compared with 4,436 units in same month last year, representing a drop of 17 per cent.

ronendrasingh.s@thehindu.co.in

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