NEW DELHI: More than half of the 17 automobile firms selling passenger vehicles in a mass market segment in India posted a decline in sales in the first seven months of the fiscal, reflecting the continued struggles of global brands in trying to make their presence felt in the country.
According to latest data by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), nine companies have posted a decline in the sales in April-October this fiscal with major brands like Volkswagen, Renault, Nissan and Skoda being among them.
During the period, Volkswagen India saw its domestic sales decline by 24.28 per cent at 21,367 units, while Renault India also witnessed a drop of 26.17 per cent at 47,064 units.
Similarly, Nissan Motors India's April-October sales stood at 22,905 units, down 26.81 per cent from the year-ago period and Skoda Auto India's sales, during the fiscal so far, stood at 9,919 units, down 1.48 per cent.
Likewise, Isuzu Motors India also witnessed a decline of 18 from 32 per cent in sales at 1,248 units with Fiat India Automobiles posting sales of just 481 units, down 69.9 per cent from the year-ago period.
Commenting on the trend, SIAM Deputy Director General Sugato Sen said, "This has been structurally there (in the past too).
There are companies which are now trying to address this through partnerships while increasing their exports from India.“While Ford has joined hands with Mahindra, Toyota and Suzuki have also announced a partnership with an eye on strengthening their presence in the Indian market.
Last year, General Motors had stopped selling its vehicles in India as there was no turnaround in its fortunes here after struggling for over two decades to make a mark.
Among the domestic firms which saw a dip in sales, this fiscal are Force Motors at 1,246 units, down 16.88 per cent and Mahindra Electric Mobility at 333 units, down 32.04 per cent, as per SIAM data.
Hindustan Motors Finance Corporation that sells SUVs from Mitsubishi clocked 189 units, down 44.57 units, while on the other hand, market leader Maruti Suzuki India posted 9.1 per cent increase in its April-October sales at 10,44,749 units.
However, among the companies which showed growth was Hyundai Motor India at 3,26,178 units at 3.86 per cent while Mahindra & Mahindra registered sales of 1,45,462 units, marginally up by 0.45 per cent.
Tata Motors saw its sales jump by 25.65 per cent during the period at 138,732 units, while Honda Cars India also improved its sales by 2.98 per cent to 1,08,652 units. Toyota Kirloskar Motor clocked 14.69 per cent increase in its sales so far this fiscal at 92,169 units.
Similarly, Ford India's sales during the period stood at 58,082 units with a growth of 15.5 per cent while FCA India Automobiles also saw its sales rise by 28.99 per cent to 9,753 units during the period.