Maruti's posts best-ever monthly sales in March

Car sales in the country showed signs of slow down in March despite market leader Maruti Suzuki India posting its highest-ever monthly sales as rival Hyundai posted only a marginal increase, while Tata Motors saw a decline over the same month last year.

However, two-wheeler makers led by Hero Honda, which posted its best monthly sales, enjoyed good numbers in March.

During the month, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) reported an increase of 38.85 per cent in sales in the domestic market to 1,10,424 units from 79,530 units in March, 2010.

This is its highest-ever monthly sales beating the previous best of 1,07,555 units in October, 2010.

The high growth witnessed by MSI could not be replicated by its rival Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), which saw only 1.02 per cent increase to 31,822 units from 31,501 units in the same month last year.

Tata Motors registered a marginal fall in its passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market to 27,678 units from 27,760 units in the same period last year. The company's 'Indica' range reported sales of 6,937 units, down 40 per cent, while the 'Indigo' family, had sales of 7,197 units, down 5 per cent vis-a-vis the same month last year.

Another homegrown firm Mahindra & Mahindra, however, said its domestic sales increased 19 per cent to 35,488 units in March as against 29,944 units in the same month last year.

Ford India also said its domestic sales jumped 10.62 per cent to 10,485 units this March compared to 9,478 in the same month last year.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported its highest-ever monthly sales in March at 9,726 units, registering a 40.73 per cent jump over the same month last year.

Nissan India saw its sales jump by over 20-fold to 2,101 units of cars against 89 units in the same month last year.

In the two-wheeler segment, the country's largest two- wheeler maker Hero Honda reported its highest-ever monthly sales in March at 5,15,852 units, registering a jump of 24.41 per cent.

Chennai-based TVS Motor Co said its two-wheeler sales witnessed a 27.27 per cent increase at 1,86,781 units from 1,46,763 units in the same month last year.

India Yamaha Motor also reported a healthy growth at 33.90 per cent increase in its total sales at 36,768 units in March compared to the corresponding period a year ago.