Driving on the back of new models, passenger car manufacturers like Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), Tata Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) and Fiat India witnessed a high double-digit growth in July sales.
While Hyundai Motor India, the country?s second largest passenger car manufacturer, registered a 53.l9% jump in domestic sales last month at 23,193 units against 15,066 units in July last year on the back of recently launched i20, its close competitor Tata Motors posted an increase of 17.3% at 17,191 units as compared to 14,652 units during the same month last year, courtesy the Tata Nano.
?HMIL registered a steady growth rate in July and it seems the market is stabilising at this point,? Arvind Saxena, senior vice-president (marketing and sales) said, adding that strong demand for its latest models i20 has helped HMIL maintain its share in the domestic market.
According to Saxena, in the next few months, the company hopes to see both export and domestic markets picking up, especially as the festival season kickstarts from next month.
The recently launched Mahindra Xylo helped utility vehicle major M&M to register a growth of 26.9% at 21,957 units last month as against 17,302 units in July 2008, while the Grand Punto resulted in a 552.9% growth for Fiat India at 2,690 units vis-?-vis 412 units in July last year.
General Motors India, on the contrary, registered a decline of 13.8% in sales last month at 4,914 units against 5,706 units during the same month last year and analysts attribute this to the absence of new products in the portfolio as well as a fallout of the parent company going bankrupt in the US.
Earlier on August 1, Maruti Suzuki India had reported a 27.6% jump in sales in the domestic market at 67,528 units in July against 52,911 units during the same month last year. Even Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI), which has recently forayed into the compact car category with its premium small car Jazz, also said that it posted a growth of 12% in sales last month at 4,857 units vis-?-vis 4,337 units in July 2008.? ?
However, Bajaj Auto, the country?s second largest two-wheeler manufacturer, failed to meet industry growth despite the recently-launched 100cc Discover DTS-Si. Its total two-wheeler sales in the domestic market declined marginally in July at 1,68,731 units as compared to 1,69,971 units during the same month last year. The company?s exports, however, went up by 1.98% at 68,585 units in July vis-?-vis 67,253 units in July 2008.
According to a company statement, Bajaj would step up domestic motorcycle production by about 25% in August 2009, in response to the strong demand.
However, on Saturday, Hero Honda Motors, the country?s largest two-wheeler manufacture, had witnessed a growth of 30.4% in total sales last month at 3,66,808 units as against 2,81,317 units during the same period in the previous year.
