Thaindian News

New Delhi/Chennai, Dec 1 (IANS) Battling high interest and fuel costs coupled with a negative consumer sentiment, the Indian automobile industry Thursday came out with a mixed-bag of sales results for November.

Passenger car-market leader Maruti Suzuki reported an 18.5 percent drop in its sales for November, making it the sixth straight month of decline.

The slump in demand saw only 91,772 vehicles sold in the month against 112,554 units in November 2010.

Total domestic sales were logged at 82,870 units, a 19.2 percent drop from the 102,503 vehicles in November 2010. Exports declined to 8,902 units, an 11.4 percent drop from 10,051 units it sold in the corresponding month of 2010.

Indicating a weakening in consumer demand, sales of the company’s smaller-sized vehicles fell. The mini passenger vehicle segment including Maruti 800, Alto, A-Star and Wagon-R saw sales drop 27.2 percent in November.

It has not been a good year for Maruti, with total sales till November in the current fiscal down 17.8 percent at 681,200 units. Domestic sales during the period fell 16.9 percent, while exports slipped 24.4 percent.

Boosted by its sedan Verna and hatchback Eon offerings’ Chennai-based Hyundai Motor’s November sales, including exports, jumped by 28.1 percent at 57,080 units from 44,540 units sold in the like period of last year.

“In a challenging market we have been able to grow volumes and market share on the strength of our new launches — Verna and Eon,” Arvind Saxena, director, marketing and sales, Hyundai Motor India, said in a statement.

The company’s domestic sales increased by 10.9 percent in the month and stood at 35,000 units from 31,540 units sold last November.

Exports in November jumped by 69.8 percent at 22,080 units against 13,000 units in the corresponding period of 2010.

Automobile giant Tata Motors’ too reported good sales figures for November.

The company’s total sales, including exports, in the month rose by 41 percent at 76,823 units, while domestic sales increased by 44 percent at 72,474 units from 50,419 units sold in the like period of last year.

Exports last month grew marginally by three percent at 4,349 units from 4,203 units shipped-out in November, 2010.

Segment-wise commercial vehicles sales in the domestic market grew by 28 percent at 44,737 units from 35,079 units sold in November last year.

The sales of Tata passenger vehicles during the month zoomed by 81 percent at 27,737 units over 15,340 units sold in November, 2010.

“Sales of the Tata Nano were 6,401 compared to 509 units sold in November last year,” the company said.

Sales of two and three wheeler companies too increased, with Hero MotoCorp and TVS coming out with good growth figures.

Two-wheeler giant Hero MotoCorp came out with a sales growth of 27.4 percent in November at 536,772 units as against 421,366 units sold in the like period of 2010.

“Our sales continue to set new benchmarks in the industry. We have been maintaining five-lakh-plus sales since August 2011,” Anil Dua, senior vice-president for marketing and sales, Hero MotoCorp said in a statement.

Chennai-based TVS Motor too closed the month with good sales growth at 12 percent, selling 175,535 units compared to 157,041 units in the same month of the previous year.

The company sold 172,829 two-wheelers last month in comparison with 153,882 units recorded in November 2010.

The company shipped out 24,271 units last month, logging 53 percent growth over 15,850 units sold in November 2010.