The festive season has failed to lift the spirits of car makers, as market leaders Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai registered flat domestic sales growth in October.
While home-grown firms Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors reported decline in sales, their global rivals such as Toyota, Honda, Ford and General Motors witnessed growth during the month riding on new and refreshed model launches.
Two-wheeler makers Hero MotoCorp and Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India posted healthy growth in October riding on festive season and robust rural sales buoyed by good monsoons.
Country’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) posted a marginal increase in its domestic sales at 96,062 units as against 96,002 vehicles in October last year.
The company’s sales in the mini-car segment including M800, Alto, A-Star and WagonR, declined by 6.8 per cent to 39,379 units last month. MSI’s sales in the compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo and Ritz also declined by 1.2 per cent to 22,188 units in October.
Hyundai’s domestic sales were marginally up at 36,002 units during the month, against 35,778 units in October, 2012.
HMIL Senior Vice-President (Sales and Marketing) Rakesh Srivastava described the situation as a 'challenging market environment.'
Tata Motors registered a decline of 33 per cent in its total passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market in October at 14,133 units. On similar lines, Mahindra & Mahindra’s domestic sales declined by 6.87 per cent in October at 47,787 units.
However, Honda Cars India (HCIL) posted a 38.70 per cent increase in its domestic sales in October at 11,214 units, riding on the success of its entry level sedan Amaze.
'HCIL is starting 3rd shift for production in our Greater Noida plant from this month to reduce waiting period and aid in quick delivery of cars,' HCIL Senior Vice President (Marketing and Sales) Jnaneswar Sen said.
Similarly, on account of good numbers by its sports utility vehicle EcoSport, Ford posted a rise of 21 per cent in its sales in October at 9,163 units.
'Led by the Ford EcoSport, our product portfolio has helped our sales momentum continue to grow amidst a challenging economic environment,' Ford India Executive Director (Marketing, Sales and Service) Vinay Piparsania said.
General Motors India (GM) reported 14.22 per cent rise in sales at 7,715 units during the last month. Toyota Kirloskar Motor posted a rise of 7 per cent in sales in October at 13,162 units. 'October has seen good sales as the festive season has helped us in generating good numbers of inquiries and orders,' Toyota Kirloskar Motor Deputy Managing Director and COO (Marketing and Commercial) Sandeep Singh said.
In the two-wheeler segment, Hero MotoCorp reported 18.17 per cent rise in total sales at 6,25,420 units in October this year. This is the first time that the company has sold over six lakh units in a month.
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India also reported 50.05 per cent growth in sales at 3,75,741 units for October 2013.
Similarly, Yamaha Motor India Sales also reported 30 per cent growth in total sales at 64,552 during October 2013 as compared to the corresponding period last year.
Chennai-based TVS Motor reported four per cent increase in total sales in October at 1,97,905 units as against 1,90,438 units in the same month last year.