Robust December sales set the tone for auto cos

NEW DELHI: There is no stopping the Indian car market as December set the cash register ringing for most carmakers. Lack of discounts and even absence of strong deal in the market couldn’t deter customers from flocking showroom that took sales to a new height, ushering brighter prospects in the new year.

While many carmakers including the largest Maruti Suzuki are yet to release their December sales, initial reports suggest that the domestic car market grew at least 25% last month over the previous year. Sensing the strong demand for cars to continue, companies had offered brisk rebates on their models in December, which typically carries huge promotions as most automakers prefer to exhaust their year-end stocks. As expected, sales zoomed in December too, paving the way for fiscal sales to cross 2 million passenger vehicles in the domestic market.

Going forward car companies expect robust demand to continue and market to expand further in 2011. “The year 2010 has been positive for Hyundai Motors and largely for the auto industry. We clocked record 6-lakh cumulative sales (including exports) for the first time since inception. Going further, stronger car sales are expected to in 2011, although the higher base of this year could moderated the rate of growth to some extent,” Arvind Saxena, director (marketing & sales) Hyundai Motor India said. The Korean carmaker clocked 17.6% growth to 26,168 cars in December 2010 as compare to 22,252 cars in the same month of 2009.

Country’s largest auto company by turnover, Tata Motors posted a positive spin of sales for its small car Nano whose sales jumped 60% to 5,784 units in December year-on-year. Its passenger vehicles sales in December stood at 19,706 units, a jump of 34% from December 2009. The strong performance was further helped by Indica hatchback that posted a 40% jump in sales to 5,923 units last month. Sales of its Safari and Sumo also increased 62% to 2,765 units in the same period.

Analyst tracking auto industry expected the growth momentum to continue in 2011. “Back by strong economic growth auto sales are expected to get a boost this year. New cars at competitive prices would increase demand while rising interest rates could pose a problem,” Pradeep Saxena who tracks auto sector for consultancy firm TNS Automotive.

Sporty utility vehicle (SUV) also got their share of attention from the customers in December. Utility vehicles major, maker Mahindra & Mahindra also posted a healthy 28% growth in sales to 15,601 units in December with its flagship SUV Scorpio pulling strong demand in the domestic market. While Japanese carmaker Toyota Kirloskar Motor sales grew 5% to 6,359 units in December.

It has also re-started customer bookings for Fortuner, which grabbed a lion’s share of the SUV segment with over 15,000 units sold in the past 18 months of its launch. “We are looking at increased production to cater to the bulging demand of Fortuner,” Toyota’s deputy MD (marketing) Sandeep Singh said.