Maruti, M&M Nov sales rise, others show dismal numbers

With the exception of largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India and utility vehicles (UV) major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), most of the commercial and passenger vehicle makers in the country reported declining sales during the month of November 2012 on Saturday.

Maruti Suzuki, a subsidiary of parent Suzuki Motor Corp, sold 103,200 vehicles in the month under review, up from 91,772 a year earlier, a rise of 12 per cent which is buoyed by demand for its new Alto 800 followed by the Swift, Swift Dzire and Ertiga vehicles. However, its exports went up by 38.37 per cent to 12,318 units last month from 8,902 units in the year-ago period, the company said.

Utility vehicle major M&M reported an 18 per cent jump in the consolidated sales to 48,143 units for November as against 40,722 units sold in the same month last fiscal. Even as exports of M&M in November 2012 declined by 46 per cent at 1,388 units from 2,563 units in the same month last year, the passenger vehicle segment logged an increase of 38 per cent at 24,604 units against 17,813 units in the year-ago month, it said. 

Tata Motors reported a 13.43 per cent decline in its total vehicle sales to 66,500 units in November as against 76,816 units sold in the same month last year, the company said. While the total passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market stood at 18,031 units in November, down 34.99 per cent from 27,735 units in the same month last year, sales of Tata Nano sales stood at 3,503 units during the month compared to 6,401 units in the year ago period, a decline of 45.27 per cent.

However, Ford Motors reported a marginal rise in its total sales in November this year at 10,155 units as against 10,091 units in the same month last year. But its domestic sales declined by 28.57 per cent to 5,944 units in November this year against 8,322 units in the same month last year, the company said.

Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) reported 2.29 per cent fall in total sales at 55,762 units in November as compared with 57,071 units sold in the corresponding month last year, but its sales in domestic market recorded marginal decline at 34,751 units compared with 35,000 units in the same month last year.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) reported a 26 per cent slump in sales at 10,352 units during November 2012 against 13,956 units during November 2012, the company said. TKM Deputy Managing Director Sandeep Singh explained that “the sales have dropped this month due to a plant shut-down to ramp up the annual production capacity from 2,10,000 units to 3,10,00 units for the next calendar year”.