Domestic car sales for November show signs of revival for auto industry

Major car makers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Honda and Toyota on Monday reported good car sales for November showing signs of revival in auto industry, even as some others faced sluggish demand due to weak consumer sentiment.

General Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Ford India reported a decline in November sales.

Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), the country's largest car maker, said its domestic sales in the reporting month rose by 17 per cent to 1,00,024 units in November 2014 as against 85,510 units in year-ago period.

Sales in the compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Ritz and Dzire rose by 13.8 per cent to 37,339 units in the reporting month as against 32,804 units in November 2013.

Sales of mid-sized sedan Ciaz, which MSI launched in October, stood at 5,232 units. The carmaker had sold 200 units of SX4 sedan in November 2013.

Sales of vans - Omni and Eeco - rose by 52.1 per cent each to 12,203 units in November of FY15 as against 8,021 units in the same year-ago period.

Rival Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) sold 35,511 units in the domestic market in November as compared to 33,501 units in November 2013, up 6 per cent.

HMIL Senior Vice President (Sales and Marketing) Rakesh Srivastava said strong investment of launching four new products in a year's time has resulted in the growth.

"Today Hyundai has one of the youngest product portfolio led by Elite i20 which has reached a landmark number of 10,500 units making it the top seller amongst strong Hyundai brands," he added.

Honda Cars India reported a 64 per cent increase in domestic car sales in the reporting month at 15,263 units as against 9,332 units in the corresponding month in FY14.

"We continue to witness strong demand for all our products across markets. We are aggressively expanding our dealer network to reach out to more customers," HCIL Senior Vice-President (Marketing & Sales) Jnaneswar Sen said.

Mahindra & Mahindra's domestic sales declined by 11 per cent, to 32,100 units, in November, as against 36,261 units a year earlier.

"The auto industry continues its sluggish demand on the back of factors such as low consumer sentiment and high interest rates," M&M Chief Executive Automotive Division and International Operations (AFS) Pravin Shah said.

The reducing international crude prices and the subsequent lowering of fuel prices should help in the revival of demand in the coming months, he added.

"We also hope that the current excise duty rates will be extended beyond end of December to get much needed recovery for the auto industry," Shah said.

Maruti, Hyundai and Mahindra had failed to register significant sales growth in October despite the festival season which had been one of the best periods for vehicle sales in the country in the past.