Car sales slow down in Nov, lean period ahead

India’s car manufacturers continued the sales momentum in No­vember though showing a sl­ight deceleration as compa­red with October — the mo­nth considered auspicious for buying vehicle.

Car sales tend to peak in the festive month and go towards a leaner period starting November. The industry expects moderation in grow­th percentage in the coming months till March as it compares with last year’s high sales base recorded between December and March.

Vehicle sales during the past 18 months have been helped by robust economic growth fuelling purchases as well as availability of easy interest rates on car purchases apart from a slew of new model launches by autom­akers that drove customers to showrooms.

Maruti Suzuki maintain­ed a healthy run-rate despite capacity constraints record­ing the fifth successive mon­th of more than 100,000 unit sales. The firm sold 112,554 cars in November, up 28 per cent from a year ago.

“We had seen about 10-11 per cent growth in urban markets for the past three months, but in November, sales in the top ten cities ha­ve increased to the extent of 35 per cent. We expect the sales momentum to be mai­ntained in the coming mon­ths though the percentage growth will be less because of a comparatively higher ba­se,” managing executive officer marketing and sales Ma­ruti Suzuki India Mayank Pareek said. In the domestic market, Maruti sold 102,503 cars, up 34 per cent due to robust demand for its Alto hatchback, while exports declined 12 per cent.

Other carmakers such as Hyundai Motor and M&M who had their weeklong an­nual maintenance shutdo­wn during the month, repo­rted marginally lower output as compared with October.

Hyundai sales declined 19 per cent as exports skidded 52 per cent on account of overseas production being diverted to meet domestic market demand. “Hyundai continued to maintain stea­dy growth in the domestic market although we were co­nstrained because of the maintenance shutdown. In December, we expect the market to continue its grow­th trend,” director - marketing and sales Hyundai Motor India Arvind Saxena said. The firm sold 31,549 cars in November, buoyed by high demand for the i10 hatchback, up 12 per cent from a year ago.

Tata Motors sold one per cent more at 54,622 units in November including cars and commercial vehicles.

Mahindra & Mahindra sold 26,666 units, up 18 per cent while GM India said sales in November grew 18 per cent at 8,376 units.

Two-wheeler makers co­ntinued with their robust gr­owth. Hero Honda Motors recorded seven straight mo­nths of more than 400,000 units monthly sales. It sold 10 per cent more at 421,366 units during the month. “It has been an all-round contribution from all the segments towards our growth – entry, deluxe as well as premium and also from the scooter segment,” senior VP marketing, sales Hero Hon­da Motors Anil Dua said.

TVS Motor too registered a robust growth of 29 per cent aided by new models Jive and Wego while sales at Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India accelerated 14 per cent to 129,627 units as demand soared for its 110 cc Twister motorcycle.

“Overall auto industry growth between April and October has been fantastic in all segments. The festive demand tends to be cyclical and sales slow down a little especially in the last quarter as seen earlier. Going forward, rising inflation and the liquidity situation may force RBI (Reserve Bank of India) to raise interest rates which may hamper growth, but more or less the sales momentum is expected to continue looking at overall factors,” auto practice leader PwC Abdul Majeed said.