Auto-makers report strong sales in July

Major automobile makers on Monday reported robust sales growth across segments driven by price reductions and restocking of vehicles at dealerships post GST implementation.

Led by market leader Maruti Suzuki India, passenger vehicles segment witnessed strong growth last month with other companies such as Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Ford India and Honda Cars India also registering double digit expansion in domestic market sales. Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) posted a 22.4 per cent increase in domestic sales at 1,54,001 units as against 1,25,778 in July 2016. The company's growth was driven by compact segment -- comprising Swift, Estilo, Dzire, Baleno and Ignis -- which saw a 25.3 per cent increase to 63,116 units in July as against 50,362 units in the same month last year.

Last month, sales of mini segment cars, including Alto and WagonR, went up 20.7 per cent to 42,310 units, from 35,051 in the year-ago month, MSI said in a statement. Tata Motors said its passenger vehicles sales in the domestic market grew 10.23 per cent to 14,933 units last month as against 13,547 in July last year.

There was an improved customer buying sentiment post Goods and Services Tax (GST), Tata Motors President, Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Mayank Pareek said. Likewise, Ford India also reported a rise of 18.96 per cent in its domestic sales at 8,418 units last month as against 7,076 units in July last year. Ford India President and Managing Director Anurag Mehrotra said, adding that going ahead there will be short-term headwinds associated with GST and rising input costs.