NEW DELHI / CHENNAI: As consumers rushed hotfoot to grab the year-end discounts to beat the price hike from January, passenger vehicle sales saw positive growth in December. Auto major Maruti Suzuki India reported 10.3 per cent rise in sales of passenger vehicles to 130,066 units last month.
The company had sold 117,908 units in December 2016. Its domestic sales stood at 119,286 units, up 12.1 per cent from 106,414 units in the year-ago period. However, exports saw a dip of 6.2 per cent to 10,780 units in December 2017. In the utility vehicles segment, the company witnessed an impressive growth of 19.9 per cent at 19,276 units and a 23.2 per cent at 53,336 in its compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Dzire and Baleno model last month.
Honda Cars India (HCIL) reported a high double-digit growth in its domestic sales last month. The firm’s domestic sales grew by 26 per cent to 12,642 units in December 2017 against 10,071 units in December 2016, HCIL said in a statement. Its mid-size sedan City and compact sports utility vehicle WR-V continue to churn numbers for Honda, selling 4,365 and 3,760 units respectively, in the domestic market.
Rival Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) saw a 10 per cent increase in total sales at 62,899 units in December against 57,164 in the previous year. Domestic sales, however, rose marginally by 0.25 per cent to 40,158 units last month, while exports grew 32.9 per cent in December at 22,741 units. In calendar year 2017, HMIL posted record domestic sales of 5,27,320 units, up 5.4 per cent from 5,00,539 units in 2016. “The positive momentum in urban and rural retail sales supported with strong after-sales service and low-cost of ownership has gained customer confidence to become the most loved and trusted brand in India,” said Y K Koo, MD and CEO of HMIL.
Passenger vehicle sales were a disappointment for Mahindra & Mahindra last month, contracting seven per cent to 15,543 units. The sales grew 8 per cent to 39,200 vehicles in December compared with 36,464 units in the year-ago month, led by robust demand for its commercial vehicles, which grew 24 per cent to 17,542 units from the year-ago month.
2-wheeler sales
On the two-wheelers front, TVS Motor Company reported a healthy 39 per cent growth in December sales at 2,56,909 units. Domestic two-wheeler sales increased 35.4 per cent over last year to 2.08 lakh units, largely due to a lower base last year on account of demonetisation. Eicher Motors’ sales rose 17 per cent in December, led by higher sales of its motorcycles with engine capacity of up to 350cc. Sales of such motorcycles rose 20 per cent year-on-year to 63,269 units while sales of models with higher engine capacity fell 20 per cent to 3,699 units in the same period