Car sales log drastic February decline in India

The two-wheeler segment also saw sluggish sales with the market Hero MotoCorp and TVS Motor witnessing their sales going down in last month.

The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India recorded domestic sales of 97,955 units in February, 2013 compared to 1,07,653 units in the year-ago period, registering a fall of 9.01 per cent.

Rival Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) recorded a decline of 7.62 per cent in domestic sales at 34,002 units compared to 36,805 units in the year-ago period.

"The market was suppressed as there was drop in enquiries with lower rates of conversions to purchase. The increase in fuel prices negatively impacted the already low market sentiments," HMIL Vice President (Sales and Marketing) Rakesh Srivastava said.

The company expects the challenge to continue in the next quarter until there is a significant change in macro-economic conditions, he added.

Homegrown Tata Motors' total passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market stood at 10,613 units in February, down 69.53 per cent from 34,832 units in the same month last year.

However, rival Mahindra & Mahindra's total sales of passenger vehicles, including Scorpio, XUV500, Xylo, Bolero and Verito, stood at 23,421 units as against 20,573 units in February 2012, translating into 13.84 per cent increase.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported 23.43 per cent decrease in its domestic car sales at 12,756 units in

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