BUSINESS | Tuesday, November 3, 2009 | Email | Print | 
Auto sector keeps momentum in tact
Rakesh Bihari Jha | New Delhi
Demands generated in the festival season along with tax breaks and easy availability of money kept auto sector’s momentum in tact in October. While India’s car market leader Maruti Suzuki announced 32.4 per cent jump in its total sales, its arch rival Hyundai Motor India reported 11.03 per cent growth. However, it was premium car maker Honda Siel, which surprised industry by clocking a phenomenal growth of 346.9 per cent in October.
Bike makers also didn’t lag behind in October. While India’s second largest two-wheeler maker, Bajaj Auto reported a 52.38 per cent increase in its growth, world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer Hero Honda reported a marginal increase in October sales at 354,156 units as against 352,449 units in the same month last year.
Country’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki continued with its healthy performance even in October as the company sold a total of 85,415 vehicles in October against a total of 64,490 vehicles last year, thereby growing by 32.4 per cent in the month.
Sales of M800 declined by 5.53 per cent at 3,124 units from the same period last year, while A2 segment (comprising Alto, Wagon R, Estilo, Swift, A-Star and Ritz) witnessed a growth of 18.43 per cent at 51,437 units compared to same period last year.
Maruti’s close competitor Hyundai Motor India reported 11.03 per cent growth in its sales in October compared to 51,736 units last year. Domestic sales for the month stood at 28,301 units against 20,009 units, up 41.44 per cent.
“The festive period of the last two months generated strong sales and has given the Indian automobile industry some respite from the sluggish performance of the last few months,” HMIL Senior vice-president (Marketing and Sales) Arvind Saxena said, adding, “strong sales are likely to propel the industry into a positive double-digit growth for the remaining part of the year.”
In its A2 segment (Santro, i10, i20 and Getz Prime), the company sold 47,407 units, while in the A3 segment (Accent and Verna) sales were at 4,285 units. The A5 segment (Sonata Transform) of HMIL witnessed sales of 44 units.
“This might be the turning point the Indian automotive industry has been waiting for,” Saxena said.
Home grown major Tata Motor witnessed a growth of 34 per cent in October as it sold 53,404 vehicles against 39,729 last year. Cumulative sales (including exports) for the company for the fiscal at 326,895 units, recorded a growth of 7 per cent over 305,438 sold last year.
M&M reported 32.11 per cent growth in domestic sales of its utility vehicles in October at 18,410 units as against 13,935 units during the same month last year.
General Motors India, whose parent company in the US filed for bankruptcy, registered a record growth of 15 per cent in October compared to the corresponding period last year. It sold 7,413 units in October against 6,465 units sold in October last year.
Another car maker from the US, Ford India registered 98 per cent growth in year on year sales in October 2009 as compared to the corresponding period last year. It sold 3,458 units in October 2009 as against 1,744 units last year.
Honda Siel Cars sold 6,909 units in October 2009 as against 1,546 units in the corresponding month last year clocking a phenomenal growth of 346.9 per cent in October 2009.
“Growing consumer optimism coupled with an array of new launches by us during the festival season catapulted our sales for the month,” said HSCI Marketing vice president Jnaneswar Sen.
Another premium car maker SkodaAuto India recorded 98 per cent growth in October over last year. The company sold 1753 units as against 887 units in October, 2008.
As regards sales of motorcycle in October, Bajaj Auto sold 2,49,681 units in October as against 1,63,850 units in October last year. The company grew 52.38 per cent in October.
Japanese bike maker India Yamaha Motor sold 26,879 units in October 2009 as against 18,614 last year. “Yamaha has continued to record good sales growth since January this year, which is testimony to the fact that our efforts, even during the financial crisis, to re-establish Yamaha’s brand image and regain the trust of our consumers are in the right direction,” said CEO & MD, India Yamaha Motor Yukimine Tsuji.
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