April car sales fail to pick up

The auto sector continued to see a tepid growth in the April as consumer sentiments remain weak.

India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki saw its domestic sales growing by just 0.3 per cent in April. However, its mini cars — M800, A-Star, Alto, Wagon R— grew by 14 per cent. Interestingly Maruti’s luxury car Kizashi didn’t find even a single buyer in April. Maruti had sold three Kizashi cars in April 2012.

The country’s second largest carmaker Hyundai Motor India’s domestic sales contracted by 7.6 per cent in April.

However, the company saw 25.7 per cent growth in exports in April. “The domestic market continues to witness pressure. Though there are signs of recovery with the increase in demand for petrol cars,” said Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Hyundai.

Japanese auto company Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) sold 9,007 units in the domestic market in April 2013 as compared to 14,378 units in the corresponding month in 2012, a decline of 37 per cent.

“The market continues to be sluggish and is expected to take some time to revive. We have taken measures to reduce inven- tory, both at our and at the dealers end,” said Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director and chief operating officer, (marketing and commercial) TKM.

General Motors India sold 8,196 cars in April 2013, a of 2.4 per cent due to good response to the newly launched Chevrolet Sail.

However, Japanese car company Honda saw its sales growing by 20 per cent buoyed by the launch of its family sedan Amaze which received good response among consumers.

Tata Motors saw its passenger vehicles sales fall drastically by 48.94 per cent to 11,570 units during April this year as against 22,658 units in the same month last year, according to agencies.