Automobile manufacturers report healthy July sales

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SME Times News Bureau | 03 Aug, 2015
A decline in interest rates, fuel costs, low base and pick-up in consumer sentiment helped the Indian automobile manufacturers report healthy sales figures for the last month on Saturday.

Passenger automobile major Maruti Suzuki's July sales grew by 20.1 percent to 121,712 units from an off-take of 101,380 units in the corresponding month of 2014.

The company's domestic sales rose by 22.5 percent at 110,405 units. However, exports were subdued. They marginally rose by 0.2 percent to 11,307 units.

Chennai-based Hyundai Motor India's sales rose by 5 percent to 50,408 units - up from 48,014 units sold in the corresponding month of 2014.

"The tremendous response for the Creta, i20 Active and Elite i20 showcase customers increasing preference and early adoption for game changer products offering novelty value in style, first in segment features and strong after sale assurances," said Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice president for sales and marketing, HMIL.

The domestic sales last month rose by 24.7 percent to 36,500 units. However, the largest passenger car exporter only managed to ship out 13,908 units in July, which is a decline of 25.8 percent.

Indian automobile giant Tata Motors' closed last month with a marginal up-tick. It closed July with a gain of one percent in its total sales at 40,154 units against 39,629 vehicles sold during the same month in 2014.

Domestic sales, however, registered a decline of one percent during the period at 35,076 units compared to 35,266 vehicles sold during July 2014.

The company's sales from exports stood at 5,078 units in July 2015 - higher by 16 percent compared to 4,363 vehicles in July 2014.

However, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) closed last month with sales coming down by three percent as compared to July 2014.

The company sold 34,652 units last month down from 35,567 units sold in July 2014.

"While the auto industry is currently seeing muted growth, we do believe that the launch of some exciting new products will help it turn the tide," Pravin Shan, president and chief executive (automotive) was quoted as saying in the statement.

"In addition, with the advent of a good monsoon till date and reduction in fuel prices, we expect sentiments to improve, leading to overall growth in auto sales," he added.

Indo-Japanese joint venture (JV) Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) sold 12,070 units in July 2015 compared to 11,921 units, registering a one percent growth in the domestic market.

TKM sold a total of 13,699 units in July 2015 and exported 1,629 units of Etios series last month.

Another Japanese auto manufacturer Honda Cars India registered sales growth of 18 percent during July. The premium car manufacturer's domestic sales grew to 18,606 units in July from 15,709 units in the corresponding month last year.

In the two-wheeler segment, Suzuki Motorcycle registered a 33 percent increase in their July 2015 sales at 36,081 units from 27,118 units sold in the same month last year.

"We expect an even larger percentage increase in sales around the festive period, and have a positive outlook for the coming quarter," said Suzuki Motor Corporation's Executive Vice President Atul Gupta.

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India reported a 2 percent growth in sales during the last month. The company sold a total of 389,626 units from an off-take of 381,411 units during July, 2014.

Two and three-wheeler maker TVS Motor closed last month with two percent growth in volumes as compared to July 2014.

The company sold a total of 218,321 units from 214,324 units sold in July 2014.

Royal Enfield's, the two-wheeler arm of Eicher Motors, total sales grew by 49 percent in July at 40,760 units sold over the corresponding period last year when it had an off-take of 27,314 units.