NEW DELHI: The first day of 2015 brought some cheer to a section of the automobile industry that had seen several lean quarters last year. Country’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki (India) saw a 20.8 per cent increase in its sales in December 2014, while country’s second largest car maker Hyundai saw its sales go up 21 per cent. However, home grown auto major Mahindra & Mahindra saw its sales dip 8 per cent and General Motors was the worst affected by the auto sector slump as its sales nosedived by as much as 36.56 per cent.
In the two-wheeler segment, Royal Enfield’s sales went up by an astounding 48 per cent where as Chennai-based TVS Motors clocked a 20.3 per cent growth in its sales numbers.
Amidst lack of clarity on the excise duty sops issue, auto makers said they would wait for some more time before deciding on hiking vehicle prices.
The excise duty concessions, given in the interim Budget by the previous UPA government in February last, were extended by the new NDA government till December 2014.
According to Government sources, the concessions were given for a specific time and would automatically cease if they were not extended.
Meanwhile, Maruti sold 1,09,971 units in December against 90,924 units sold in the same month in 2013. Similarly, Hyundai’s sales stood at 59,365 units (49,078 units).
“In the challenging market conditions of calendar year (CY) 2014, Hyundai did all time record high sales of 4.11 lakh units with all time high projected market share of 21.8 per cent in passenger cars,” HMIL Senior Vice-President (Sales and Marketing) Rakesh Srivastava said.
MSI said its domestic sales increased by 13.3 per cent during the month to 98,109 units (86,613 units). Its exports rose by nearly three-fold to 11,682 units (4,311 units).
However, M&M reported 8 per cent decline in total sales at 36,328 units (39,611 units). Its domestic sales declined by 7 per cent to 34,460 units (36,881 units),
General Motors reported a 36.56 per cent decline in sales at 3,619 units (5,705 units).
Commenting on the sharp decline in sales General Motors India Vice-President P Balendran said, “Demand continues to remain suppressed on account of high interest rates and weak economic fundamentals. The withdrawal of excise duty benefits is also a big jolt for the automobile industry.”
Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) reported 7.97 per cent increase in total sales to 13,628 units (12,622 units). In the domestic market, TKM sold 11,740 units (10,648 units), up 10.25 per cent.
The country’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp reported a marginal rise of 0.21 per cent in sales at 5,26,097 units (5,24,990 units).
However, makers of iconic bikes in the domestic segment Royal Enfield notched 48.27 per cent growth in total sales at 28,634 units (19,312 units). Domestic sales also increased by 47.78 per cent at 28,179 units (19,067 units).
TVS Motor reported 20.3 per cent increase in its total sales at 1,91,880 units (1,59,495 units). Its total two-wheeler sales also increased by 18.67 per cent to 1,81,994 units (1,53,358 units).