Amid excise duty hike on Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) from 27% to 30% in the Union Budget, car makers had a difficult month in February with leading companies, including Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors, reporting decline in their domestic monthly sales as market continues to reel under tough macro economic conditions.
According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the sector will not be able to achieve the 0-1% forecast set for passenger car segment in the current fiscal. The two-wheeler segment also saw sluggish sales with the market Hero MotoCorp and TVS Motor witnessing their sales going down in last month.
India’s largest automobile manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki saw its passenger car sales decline by 10.9% with total sales of 83,865 units as against 94,118 units sold in the same month last year. The overall domestic sales was down 9%, while exports saw a growth of 2.8%.
According to the company, the total sales (including exports and domestic sales) were down 7.9% at 1,09,567 units in February when compared to 118949 units last year.
Korean automobile maker, Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) domestic sales stood at 34,002 units as against 36,805 units last February, a decline of 7.62%.
Even homegrown Tata Motors saw its total passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market drop to 10,613 units in February, down 69.53 per cent from 34,832 units in the same month last year. The company’s cumulative sales drop to 61,998 units from 92,119 units in February 2012.
However, Mahindra and Mahindra reported a growth of 11% in sales at 47,824 units as against 43,087 units in the same period last year. The passenger vehicle category registered a growth of 14% over February-12.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported 23.43 per cent decrease in its domestic car sales at 12,756 units in February 2013. It had sold 16,659 units in the corresponding month of last year.
Ford India’s domestic sales went down by 44.12 per cent to 4,490 units in February this year from 8,035 units in the same month last year.
In two-wheeler category, the country’s largest manufacturer Hero MotoCorp reported a decrease of 4.24 per cent in its sales at 5,01,271 units in February 2013. It had sold 5,23,465 units in February 2012.
TVS Motor Company’s domestic two-wheeler sales registered a decline of 6.54 per cent to 1,42,800 units as against 1,52,796 units in February 2012.
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India reported 10.87 per cent growth in its total sales for February 2013 at 2,28,444 units. Its total sales had stood at 2,06,043 units in the corresponding month of the last year.