Chennai: Car makers Maruti Suzuki India, Honda Cars, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors reported growth in sales last month on account of improvement in consumer sentiment as compared to January.
While car maker leader Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) saw marginal growth in February sales, Honda cars and Mahindra witnessed robust double digit growth in domestic sales during the month.
Tata Motors reported 2 per cent increase in passenger vehicle sales, while Toyota Kirloskar Motor saw sales dip marginally last month.
MSI reported sales of 1.39 lakh units last month in the domestic market, a marginal growth from 1.37 lakh units in February 2018. Mini segment cars, which includes models like Alto, witnessed sales of 24,751 units as compared to 33,789 units in February last year, down 26.7 per cent.
However, sales of compact segment, including models such as Wagon R, Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire, were up 11.4 per cent at 72,678 units as against 65,213 units in February last year, the company said.
Similarly, Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) reported a 16 per cent increase in its domestic sales to 13,527 units in February. It had sold 11,650 units in the domestic market in February 2018.
Utility vehicles major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) saw its domestic passenger vehicle sales grow by 17 per cent to 26,109 units as compared to 22,389 units in February 2018.
Tata Motors’ sales increased in the domestic market by two per cent to 18,110 units, while Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) sold a total of 11,760 units in the domestic market last month as compared to 11,864 units a year ago.
Hero MotoCorp, which saw marginal decline in sales said, ‘In order to provide impetus to the market, Hero MotoCorp is set to launch a slew of new products – including scooters and premium motorcycles – in the coming months.’
The company further said it expects demand scenario to improve also on account of increased liquidity in the market through government schemes of direct benefit to farmers and various measures taken by manufacturers to boost retail sales.
“The demand growth can further be stimulated if the GST rate on two-wheelers is reduced to 18 per cent from the present 28 per cent,” it said.
| On two wheels |
| In the two-wheeler segment, Bajaj Auto reported four per cent increase in February sales at 2,21,706 units. TVS Motor company saw domestic two-wheeler sales increase marginally to 2,31,582 units last month from 2,30,353 in February 2018.
Market leader Hero MotoCorp reported 1.96 per cent decline in total sales at 6,17,215 units in February. The company had sold 6,29,597 units in the same month last year, Hero MotoCorp said in a statement. |
| Industry speak |
| HCIL Senior VP and director – Sales and Marketing, Rajesh Goel, said : Our on-ground efforts and sustained sales momentum for models, specially the Amaze, City and WR-V has fuelled our growth in February. The overall market sentiment is not overtly buoyant at this stage, however, the company hopes the market will revive soon.
M&M, president (Automotive Sector), Rajan Wadhera : The month of February has augured well for Mahindra. We have witnessed a strong double digit growth of 16 per cent in our UV portfolio, on the back of our newly launched XUV300 model. Tata Motors, president – Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Mayank Pareek : Despite the challenging environment last month, we witnessed a growth of two per cent, fuelled by the good performance of our new generation products. TKM, deputy managing director, N Raja : We have seen improvement in consumer sentiments as compared to last month leading to a growth in demand. However, the auto sales is witnessing a temporary slowdown in pre-election phase in addition to factors like tight liquidity condition impacting the buying behavior. |