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Journalism of Courage
For the countrys largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India,a continued robust demand for its compact car segment and the new swift DZire helped keep up the momentum in sales as the company registered a 3.28 per cent increase in sales at 125,952 units against corresponding sales figure for March 2011.
The government was expected to levy an increased excise on diesel vehicles in the Budget,but it hiked it across the board making all consumer goods,including cars,expensive.
Following the trend,the countrys second largest passenger car manufacturer Hyundai Motors India also posted a 6.6 per cent increase in sales at 59,229 units over last year,largely driven by the 22.9 per cent increase in the domestic sales at 39,122 units for the month. Its sales in the A2 segment comprising Eon,Santro,i10 and i20 were 39,122 while in the A3 segment comprising Accent and Verna were 7,679 units.
However,the companys export numbers fell by 15.26 per cent as export lines were diverted for domestic market given the surge in demand explained Arvind Saxena,director (marketing & sales) HMIL. Saxena said,We could meet our expectations in March as there was considerable interest to beat the expected price hike in the Union Budget. The market continues to pose many challenges. Things can improve if interest rates come down this quarter.
FE
