NEW DELHI: India’s leading passenger vehicle (PV) maker, Maruti Suzuki (MSIL), on Saturday reported a 0.3 per cent decline in its November 2018 domestic sales to 1,43,890 units, against 144,297 units it sold in the same month last year.
This is also the fourth time in last five months that MSIL is posting a drop in sales, reflecting the negative sentiment that prevails in the overall PV market. The company’s mini segment (Alto and WagonR) reported a 21.6 per cent fall to 29,954 units last month.
While Ford India reported 26.32 per cent decline in total sales at 19,905 units in November (18 per cent decline in domestic sales), Toyota’s domestic sales during the same month reduced to 10,721 units from 12,734 units it sold in November 2017.
Mahindra and Mahindra, however, managed a marginal rise in domestic PV sales to 16,188 units in November 2018, against 16,030 units it sold a year ago. “With consumer sentiments continuing to be low due to the general economic situation, we expect continued volatility in fuel prices and inflation to cause headwinds for the passenger vehicle industry,” said Anurag Mehrotra, president and managing director, Ford India.
Tractor players, however, reported a decent jump in sales. Delhi-NCR-based Escorts reported 54.6 per cent increase in domestic tractor sales at 7,641 units.