Top car makers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Honda have begun the new fiscal on a high note by posting robust sales in April, riding mainly on new models. Maruti Suzuki India announced that its domestic sales increased by 27.3 percent during the month of April 2015 to 1,00,709 units as against 79,119 units in April 2014. Sales of mini segment cars, including, Alto and WagonR, has raised to 35.9 percent to 35,403 units compared with 26,043 units in the corresponding period last year, while the compact segment sales comprising Swift, Estilo, Ritz, Dzire rose by 8.7 percent to 42,297 units in April this year as compared to the same period of the previous fiscal.
Rival Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) sold 38,601 units last month as compared with 35,248 units in April 2014, up 9.5 percent.
HMIL Senior Vice-President (Sales and Marketing) Rakesh Srivastava said the growth during the month was achieved "on the strength of strong and young product portfolio led by 12,425 units of Elite i20 and i20 Active in a challenging market conditions especially in the rural market."
Utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra saw its domestic sales rise by 1 percent to 34,467 units last month as against 34,107 units in April last year. "The auto industry is hopeful of a better financial year as we see positive sentiments on the back of various policy and project announcements leading to higher levels of economic activity," M&M Chief Executive (Automotive Division) Pravin Shah said.
General Motors India reported 31.87 percent decline in sales at 3,612 units in April 2015 as against 5,302 units in the same month last year. General Motors India Vice President P Balendran said, "The overall customer sentiment has not picked up as expected and the rural markets are also facing challenging times. The fuel price hike from last night is also expected to impact demand going forward." "The company expects interest rates to be reduced in phases and some of the reform-oriented announcements made by the government to be implemented in a timely manner to aid economic recovery," he added.
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) has reported an 8.56 percent increase in total sales at 3,40,791 units in April. Niche bike maker Royal Enfield's domestic sales were at 33,118 units during the month as against 23,180 units in April last year, up 43 percent.
By Premji
