Mixed fare for auto companies on sales in August

Overall growth in sector due to positive sentiments in economy

It was a mixed bag for automobile makers in August with some like Maruti Suzuki, Ashok Leyland and TVS Motors logging overall growth while others are on the reverse gear waiting for the festival season to perk up the sales.

Experts are of the view that the sales growth is more due to sentiments than economic data.“The spurt in growth seems to be more on account of the prevailing sentiment rather than on hard economic data, at the moment.

There may be a tapering off of demand if the economic parameters remain weak in coming months,” Kumar Kandaswami, senior director, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India said.

According to him, if the inflation goes down and if investment begins to flow into the important sectors triggering growth in disposable income, the growth in demand for cars will be sustained.

"We maintain a cautious optimism for a good festive season on the strength of new products, increase in demand for petrol cars and improving customer sentiments," said Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Hyundai Motor India.

India's largest passenger car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki closed last month with a healthy sales growth of 26.9 percent in total sales, including exports at 110,776 units (domestic 98,304 units, exports 12,472 units). The company sold 87,323 units (domestic 76,018 units, exports 11,305 units) in August 2013.

Sales in passenger cars segment, which comprises brands like Alto, WagonR and Swift, were higher by 30.4 percent at 82,823 units sold from an off-take of 63,499 units in the corresponding month of 2013.

The off-take of utility vehicles like Gypsy, Grand Vitara and Ertiga was up by 20.3 percent at 5,491 units from sales of 4,563 units in August 2013.

On the other hand, Hyundai Motor India reported an overall fall of eight percent in its sales for August at 48,111 units (domestic 33,750 units, exports 14,361 units) from 52,319 units (domestic 28,311 units, exports 24,008 units) in the corresponding month of last year.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), however, 6.59 per cent decline in domestic sales at 11,215 units in August 2014, as compared to 12,007 units in the same month last year.

Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) reported seven percent fall in sales at 35,175 units  (domestic 33,145 units, exports 2,030 units) from 37,897 units (domestic 35,159 units, exports 2,738 units) during the period under review.