Car sales continue declining trend; Big three slide

Passenger car sales continued to decline in August as rising interest rates and spiraling fuel costs forced consumers to postpone purchases.

Passenger car sales continued to decline in August as rising interest rates and spiraling fuel costs forced consumers to postpone purchases. The countrys top three carmakers Maruti Suzuki,Hyundai Motor and Tata Motors that constitute nearly 60 per cent of the total car market saw their cumulative sales decline 17.6 per cent to 1.46 lakh units against 1.2 lakh units in the corresponding month last financial year.

Among the worst hit was Maruti Suzuki which saw its sales decline nearly 17 per cent to 77,086 units from 92,674 units in August 2010. The company attributed the lower sales to the disruption in production at the end of the month owing to labour issues. The disruption in production at the companys Manesar plant in end August adversely impacted the sales numbers during the month, Maruti said in a statement. Marutis exports during the month however increased 18.5 per cent to 14,356 units as against 12,117 units in the corresponding month last year.

Hyundai Motor Indias sales dropped 6.7 per cent in August to 26,677 units. The company had sold a total of 28,601 units in the same month last year. Hyundai,the countrys largest car exporter,saw its overseas shipments increase 10.5 per cent to 24,353 units from 22,032 units last year. The company said that the market continued to be sluggish for OEMs. Director marketing and sales of Hyundai Motor India Arvind Saxena said,The rising fuel prices and interest rates have been instrumental in this sluggish market trend.

Tata Nanos sales plummeted in August declining 85 per cent to 1,202 units. This brought down the companys total sales by more than one-third during the month. In August the companys total sales stood at 16,829 units compared to 25,212 units in the corresponding month last year with sales declining 33.2 per cent.

During the month General Motors grew 14 per cent on the back of its recently launched diesel Beat. Ford Indias total cumulative sales in the month grew 9 per cent to 8,914 units.

Toyota Kirloskar Motors sales increased 83.82 per cent primarily on the back of the recently launched small car Liva.

TVS Motors two wheeler sales grew 14 per cent while Yamaha Motors sales increased 32 per cent. FE