Maruti, Hyundai, Honda, Toyota clock high growth in April sales

The first month of the new fiscal year 2015-16 has seen the top players report smart sales, albeit on a low base in April 2014, when total passenger car sales had fallen 10.15% .

Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s largest car manufacturer, reported 27 percent growth in its April 2015 sales of 100,709 cars (April 2014: 79,119). The Alto and Wagon R together sold 35,403 units, up 36% (April 2014: 26,043). The Swift, Ritz, Celerio, and Dzire combined sold 42,297 units, up 8.7% (April 2014: 38,926) while the Ciaz sold over 4,000 units during the month. The Omni and Eeco sold a total of 12,069 units, up 45% (April 2014: 8,322). Sales of the Ertiga MPV (along with the Gypsy and Grand Vitara) were however down for the month, selling 4,452 units, down 11% (April 2014: 5,011).

Hyundai Motor India registered domestic sales of 38,601 units last month, up 9.5% (April 2014: 35,248). Commenting on the April sales, Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice-president (Sales and Marketing), HMIL, said, “Hyundai with a volume of 38,601 units continued the growth momentum with 9.5 percent increase over last year on the strength of strong and young product portfolio led by 12,425 units of the Elite i20 and i20 Active in a challenging market conditions especially in the rural market.”

Honda Cars India announced  domestic sales of 12,636 units in April 2015, up 14% (April 2014: 11,040). Its sales comprised 8,203 Citys, 2,862 Amaze sedans, 827 Brios, 689 Mobilios and 55 CR-Vs.

Mahindra & Mahindra’s (M&M)  passenger vehicles division which includes UVs and the Verito sold 18,314 units in April 2015 as against 18,148 units during April 2014, recording flat growth of 1%.  Pravin Shah, President & Chief Executive, Automotive, Mahindra & Mahindra said, “We are happy to have achieved an overall growth during April 2015. The auto industry is hopeful of a better financial year as we see positive sentiments on the back of various policy and project announcements leading to higher levels of economic activity. At Mahindra we expect to perform better given the positive sentiments and the upcoming launches of our new products.”

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has registered sales of 12,325 units in April 2015, 4,763 units and 63% more than the 7,562 cars it sold in April 2014. On the export front, the company sold 1,334 units in April 2015, registering a 74% year-on-year growth in export sales.

The Japanese carmaker has been notching double-digit growth, month on month, right since the beginning of the year. In January it recorded 16% growth (12,650 units), 17% in February (11,802 units), 62% in March (13,333 units) and 63% in April. Overall, TKM has posted 36% growth in the domestic market from January to April in 2015 when compared to the same period in 2014.

Commenting on the sales, N Raja, director and senior vice-president (Sales and Marketing), TKM, said: “The growth in sales can be attributed to the growing popularity of our Etios series, especially after the introduction of the Etios Cross last year. The Etios series along with the new Corolla Altis has helped us achieve a consistent growth month on month.

"Safety has always been of utmost importance to us and this has been further reiterated by our efforts to standardise airbags in all our models which has given a positive boost to our sales. The additional safety and comfort features across our new models have been well received across markets which itself is a proof that customers have started to appreciate the safety features," concluded Raja.

In FY2014-15, total passenger car sales comprised 1.8 million units (1,876,017), registering a year on year growth of 4.99%. Utility vehicles saw 5.3% growth (553,699) and vans a negative 10.19% (171,395). The total passenger vehicle segment growth was 3.90% (2,601,111).

In April 2015, Tata Motors’ passenger vehicle division recorded sales of 10,230 units, a growth of 37 percent (April 2014: 7,441), thanks to strong sales of the Zest saloon and Bolt hatchback.

While passenger car sales in April 2015 at 8,925 units was higher by 58 percent over April 2014, UV sales declined by 27 percent at 1,305 units in April 2015.

Volkswagen India registered an 18 percent increase in sales in April 2015 at 3,572 units as compared to 3,033 units in the same period last year. This increase in sales, the company says, comes on the back of the recent launches of the new Jetta and Vento Magnific. The Polo, the only hatchback in its segment that comes with a 4-star NCAP safety rating for adult occupants, is also a contributor to the growth.

According to Michael Mayer, director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Group Sales India, “We are happy to note the overall positive sentiment in the Indian automotive industry, which has also had a very good effect on our sales. We are particularly encouraged by our customers’ response to the DSG-equipped variants of the Vento and the Polo GT.”