CHENNAI: Auto sales across all vehicle segments registered robust growth in March, buoyed by improved spending in rural and semi-urban areas. The country’s largest car-maker by volume, Maruti Suzuki India, reported a growth of 15.3 per cent, selling 1,47,170 units last month. While sales of mini cars (Alto and WagonR) rose over 21 per cent to 37,511 units in March, those of compacts (Swift, Baleno, Ignis, Celerio, DZire and Tour S) gained 13.5 per cent to 68,885 units. The local unit of Japan’s Suzuki Motor company also ended the year on a high, growing domestic sales 13.8 per cent to 16,43,467 units.
Rival Hyundai Motor India Ltd reported 8.8 per cent increase in total sales at 60,507 units in March 2018. For the entire fiscal, the company posted record domestic sales of 5,36,241 units.
This is a growth of 5.2 per cent over 509,707 units sold last year. Homegrown auto major Tata Motors reported a 31 per cent increase in passenger vehicle sales at 20,266 units in March. Though passenger car sales for the company declined by four per cent, demand in the utility vehicle segment more than trebled, thanks to a strong demand for the Nexon compact SUV. For the fiscal year, its passenger vehicle sales grew 22 per cent to close at 1,87,321 units.
In the commercial vehicle space as well, Tata Motors, the market leader, continued to gain momentum, with sales growing 37 per cent to 49,174 units in March. “The government’s push towards infrastructure development, restriction on overloading of trucks, road construction and mining activities boosted demand in the MHCV (medium and heavy commercial vehicles) segment,” said Girish Wagh, president of its commercial vehicle business unit. Automaker Honda Cars India has registered a growth of eight per cent to sell 1,70,026 units in the domestic market in the last financial year.
However, the company registered monthly domestic sales of 13,574 units in March 2018, which is a drop of 28.4 per cent compared to 18,950 units sold in the corresponding month of the previous financial year.
Other car-makers like Mahindra and Mahindra reported a 10 per cent increase in total sales at 62,077 units in March as against 56,202 units for the same month last year. Ford India reported 11.06 per cent increase in total sales at 27,580 units in March against 24,832 units in the same month last year.