NEW DELHI: After witnessing stupendous growth in June 2018, passenger vehicle (PV) makers have reported fall in domestic sales in July. I
ndia’s largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) sold 152,427 PV units in the domestic market last month against 153,298 units it sold in July a year ago, registering a fall of 0.6 per cent.
Owing to multiple reasons, MSIL reported YoY sales decline in the hatchback, UV and sedan segments. Sales of its mid-level sedan Ciaz saw a decline of 99.2 per cent in July 2018 to a mere 48 units, as the it is set to launch its upgraded version this month.
R S Kalsi, senior executive director, marketing and sales, Maruti Suzuki, said, “If we see the company’s June-July volume, it gives us a growth of 17 per cent. We have sold more cars in July than in June, but there is no growth due to high-base effect.” Kalsi said July will be a flat month or a month of decline for the industry as well even though absolute numbers are going to be higher month-on-month.
Not just Maruti, top UV makers Mahindra & Mahindra and Toyota Kirloskar also reported a fall in PV sales last month.
While, M&M reported a 6 per cent drop in July sales to 19,781 units as against 21,034 vehicles sold in July 2017, Toyota sold a total of 13,677 units (July 2018) in the domestic market as against 17,750 units sold during the same month last year. Ford India’s domestic sales in July stood at 7,816 vehicles as against 8,418 units sold in the same month last year, registering a decline of 7.15 per cent.
Hyundai India’s domestic sales rose marginally by 1.1 per cent to 43,481 units in July 2018 as against 43,007 units a year ago, while Tata Motor’s PV domestic sales in July 2018 stood at 17,079 units, higher by 14 per cent. Honda Cars India, on the back of strong demand for its compact sedan Amaze, reported 17 per cent growth in domestic sales to 19,970 units in July 2018.
Two-wheeler makers, however, reported positive sales. Hero MotoCorp reported a 9 per cent YoY increase in sales to 6,79,862 units, while Bajaj Auto’s motorcycle sales grew by 25 per cent to 3.32 lakh units. TVS sold 3.08 lakh units, registering a 17 per cent growth compared to 2.63 lakh units sold last year.