The build up to festive season failed to lift sales of top car companies in September with only
Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra & Mahindra reporting increase in their domestic despatches.
While Maruti Suzuki posted 13 per cent rise,
Mahindra & Mahindra's sales went up 22 per cent in September. On the other hand, Hyundai Motor and Tata Motors saw their sales going down by 14 per cent and 18 per cent respectively.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor and General Motors too witnessed decline in sales by 5 per cent and 27 per cent respectively.
Ford India's sales dipped marginally in September 2012.
Market leader Maruti Suzuki India recorded domestic sales of 88,801 units compared to 78,816 units in the year-ago period, registering a rise of 12.67 per cent.
Rival Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL)'s domestic sales stood at 30,851 units compared to 35,955 units in September last year, down 14.2 per cent.
Commenting on the sales performance, HMIL Vice President (National Sales) Rakesh Srivastava said: "We expect the suppressed demand would improve on account of festive purchases as the demand peaks during this period."
Homegrown auto major Tata Motors' total passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market stood at 21,652 units in September, down 17.73 per cent from 26,319 units in the same month last year.
Rival and utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra's (M&M) passenger vehicles segment (which includes the UVs and Verito) registered 22.43 per cent increase at 23,808 units as against 19,447 units in the year-ago month.
"We are happy with the performance and growth that we have achieved during September 2012 over the festive season month of September 2011," M&M Chief Executive (Automotive Division) Pravin Shah said.
Post reduction in CRR, banks have started cutting lending rates and are also looking at reducing vehicle loan rates, he added.
"We are hopeful of a good performance in the upcoming festive season," Shah said.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor's September sales fell by 5.40 per cent to 12,115 units from 12,807 units in the same month 2011.
"We have seen a drop in sales last month. The market has been quite sluggish and the market sentiments are very low in the passenger car segment. We hope to see it picking up in the festive season," Toyota Kirloskar Motor Deputy Managing Director (Marketing) Sandeep Singh said.
Car maker Ford India's domestic sales declined marginally to 7,794 units in September this year as against 7,801 units in the same month last year.
Commenting on the sales performance, Ford India President and Managing Director, Michael Boneham said: "We have seen customer confidence improving with the start of the festive season, and are fully prepared to handle pent-up demand during the festive period with our enhanced capacity for diesel engines at Chennai."
General Motors India reported 26.78 per cent decline in its sales last month at 7,403 units. It had sold 10,112 units in September 2011.
"The sales are not on the expected lines as the overall market continues to remain sluggish due to increase in fuel prices, negative market sentiment and various other factors.
However, we expect the market to show some improvement closer to the festive season," General Motors India Vice President P Balendran said.
In the two-wheeler segment, Chennai-based TVS Motor Company's domestic two-wheeler sales registered a decline of 22.31 per cent to 1,49,191 units as against 1,92,027 units in September 2011.
However, Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd (SMIPL) reported 31.53 per cent increase in its sales at 38,267 units in September. It had sold 29,094 units in the same month in 2011.
Commenting on the sales growth, SMIPL Vice President (Sales and Marketing) Atul Gupta said: "We have received a good response from the market for all our products. The growing customer satisfaction has led to positive word-of-mouth in the market."
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