No festive fervour? Oct car sales grow in single digit

NEW DELHI: Automobile makers, including Maruti Suzuki, Toyota, Mahindra and Tata Motors, reported single-digit growth in domestic passenger vehicle sales in October with festive season purchases remaining largely muted. Although the overall numbers were also hit by high base effect of last year, Hyundai’s domestic sales declined marginally, while Ford saw a 44% dip as it prepared to launch an updated version of its best selling compact SUV, EcoSport.

The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said its domestic were at 1,36,000 units, up 9.9 per cent from 1,23,764 in October last year. The sales were mainly driven by compact segment comprising Swift, Dzire and Baleno which jumped by 24.7% to 62,480 units last month, against 50,116 units in the yearago period.

Utility vehicle sales, including Gypsy, Grand Vitara, Ertiga, S-Cross and compact SUV Vitara Brezza, increased 29.8% to 23,382 units in October, from 18,008 in the same month of 2016, MSI added.

However, mini segment cars, including Alto and WagonR, witnessed a 4.2% decline to 32,490 units during the month under review, from 33,929 in October 2016, the automaker said.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) reported a 6.45% rise in domestic sales at 12,403 units in October. The company had sold a total of 11,651 units in the same month last year, TKM said in a statement.

Homegrown auto major Mahindra & Mahindra reported a marginal growth in its domestic sales at 48,818 units last month compared to 48,729 in October 2016. M&M president (automotive sector) Rajan Wadhera said: “The auto industry has had a mixed month. The build up to Dhanteras and Diwali was good but the demand tapered off subsequently.”

Last year all festivals were in October and the industry volumes had a high base, he added.

Wadhera cautioned that going forward the auto industry would enter into a year-end period of lower sales.

Tata Motors said its passenger vehicles sales in the domestic market grew 1% year on year to 16,475 units last month.

“While we have grown, we could have done better had it not been for the long holiday season. We will maintain cautious optimism in the market and hope to see this momentum continue,” Tata Motors president (passenger vehicles business unit) Mayank Pareek said.