After a month in which a labour strike flattened Maruti Suzuki’s sales, the market leader sold a total of 82,870 vehicles in November 2011, lower than its year-earlier sales of 102,503 units in November 2010. The Alto did well, selling 24,422 units, its monthly average, while the Wagon R sold 12,069 units.

The jewel in Maruti’s crown – the all-new Swift – sold 17,000 units, making up somewhat for October’s disappointing sales but not really good given the estimated 90,000-odd bookings for the car. Sales grew by six percent in the premium segment comprising the Dzire (10,403 units)and the SX4 (1,433 units). The Kizashi sold 162 units, its highest in the year so far.

Hyundai Motor India recorded a growth of 28.15 percent in sales figures for November 2011 over the same year-earlier month. Of these, domestic sales increases have grown by 10.97 percent and exports by 69.85 percent. HMIL’s sales increased to 35,000 units from 31,540 units last year. Of these, the highest-selling model was the i10 with 10,174 units. The Eon improved on October 2011 figures with 7,418 units (largely due to inadequate sales of the Alto which bore the brunt of the Maruti strike) and in the process got a slot in the Top 10 for the second consecutive month.

The Santro seems to be falling out of favour with first-time buyers favouring its new sibling, the Eon but this car was able to sell 5,122 units. The Verna’s sales stayed steady at 4,331 units while the Accent and Sonata sold 682 and three units respectively. The Santa Fe sold 122 units.

Tata Motors’ sales of passenger vehicles comprised 28,774 units (27,737 Tata + 1,037 Fiat) in the domestic market in November 2011, up 76 percent compared to 16,363 units (15,340 Tata + 1,023 Fiat) in November 2010. Sales of only Tata passenger cars for November 2011 were 27,737, up 81 percent over the 15,340 units sold in November last year. The Nano sold 6,401 units compared to 509 in November last year. It's almost a year since the company announced technical upgrades for the car as well as a four-year warranty but the response has not been very significant. The company will now pin its hopes on a new 2012 edition. Tata Motors’ Indica range sales were 10,926 units, up 91 percent over the 5,716 units sold in November 2010 and the Indigo range sold 6,213 units, up three percent over the 6,009 units sold in November 2010.

Mahindra & Mahindra saw its monthly sales increase 52 percent at 38,159 units during November 2011 compared to 25,166 units in November 2010. Rajesh Jejurikar, chief executive, automotive division, M&M, said: “All our brands are doing well with the excitement around XUV5OO continuing, as we ramp up production”. Indeed, M&M, which had closed bookings for the XUV, said it will re-open bookings next month. The XUV is made at Chakan where 2,000 units can be rolled out every month. M&M is now ramping up to 3,000 units from January.

As a result of the Etios saloon and Liva, Toyota Kirloskar Motor sold 13,956 units in November 2011 as compared to 5,242 units in November 2010, up 266 percent. Both models sold 3,943 and 4,328 units respectively along with the tried-and-tested Innova clocking 4,308 units.

General Motors India, which has hit paydirt with its diesel-powered Chevrolete Beat, sold 8,440 units in November 2011 against 8,376 units sold in November 2010. The Beat has been one of the top performers for GM India sold 4,605 units.

Skoda Auto India said its sales grew 43 percent for November 2011 over the same period last year. Total November 2011 sales were 2,628 units as against 1,841 units for November 2010. The company has launched its new Rapid in the C segment, pitched against the Volkswagen Vento. The company claims to have got over 1,600 bookings for the saloon.

This year has been an 'annus horribilis' for Honda, which first had to bear the brunt of the Japanese tsunami and now the inundation of its Thailand plant. The disruption of the supply chain and shortage of components has affected all its models sold in India particularly the Brio, Jazz and City. The City has taken a hit from 3,376 units sold in October 2011 to 652 units sold in November. The Jazz and Brio managed to score sales of 382 and 666 units respectively. Honda is now trying to make alternate arrangements to source components from China and Japan. The production of the City has already been brought to a halt and it is likely that the Brio will also be impacted. Total sales for November 2011 were 1,982 units which includes 161 Civics, 91 Accords and 30 CR-Vs.

Nissan Motor India reported sales of 2,688 units in the month, a 149 percent year-on-year increase. The growth driver was the Sunny saloon which accounted for 1,131 of the November total and has already achieved 3,130 bookings since its September launch. The Micra sold 1,514 units, a 47 percent increase over November 2010.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen India sold 6,722 vehicles in the month, up 46 percent over 4,612 vehicles sold in November 2010. The Polo and the Vento continue to bring in the numbers for the brand with a total of 6,215 units sold in November 2011. The Jetta and the Passat together sold 499 units during the month.

In the luxury segment, Audi sold 425 cars as against 265 in November 2010.

Two-wheeler sales keep revving

In the two-wheeler segment, Hero MotoCorp reported its highest-ever sales in the month of November. It despatched 536,772 two-wheelers, an increase of 27.4 percent over November 2010 when the company had sold 421,366 units. Its cumulative sales for April-November 2011 have now risen to 41,22,902 units, a 19.6 percent growth over the corresponding period last year when the company had sold 34,46,602 units.

Bajaj Auto, which has put on hold the launch of the new Pulsar, sold 331,967 units in the month, 25 percent above last November’s sales.

TVS Motor Company recorded total two- wheeler sales of 172, 829 units, up by 12 percent as compared to sales of 153,882 units in November 2010. Scooter sales increased by 22 percent with sales of 44,301 units compared to 36,233 units recorded in November 2010. Motorcycles recorded sales of 62,608 units in November 2011 against 62,995 units in November 2010. The company's domestic two-wheeler sales saw an eight percent growth ––150,406 units in November 2011 against 139,541 units reported in November 2010.

Meanwhile, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) sold 198,782 units comprising 79,506 motorcycles and 119,276 scooters, an overall growth of 54 percent. During November, the company began dispatches of the new deluxe variant of the CB Unicorn Dazzler with dual-tone colours. Since the start of this fiscal, HMSI’s share of the two-wheeler market has gone up to 15 percent for the month from 11 percent in April 2011.

India Yamaha Motor recorded a total sales growth of 29.2 percent in November 2011 with a sale of 39,162 units compared to 30,310 units in November 2010. In domestic markets, sales grew 24 percent year-over-year at 28,178 units in November 2011 as against 22,710 units sold in the same period last year. Jun Nakata, director, sales and marketing, India Yamaha Motor, said: “The new YZF-R15 Version 2.0, along with the FZ and SZ Series, is driving our sales in both domestic and export markets. We plan to reach out to customers in Tier II and Tier III cities and are expanding our sales and service network in these regions.”

Suzuki Motorcycle India sold 31,332 units in November as compared to 25,450 units in November 2010, an increase of 23 percent.

And finally, Mahindra 2 Wheelers announced the launch of the new Duro DX, a fuel efficient 125cc scooter. And in the first week of November, the company launched a new range of special edition dual colours for its 125cc Rodeo scooter. The company’s cumulative scooter sales from April to November 2011 stood at 100,268 units. Sales in November 2011 were 8,034 units. All in all, as 2011 draws to a close, the automotive sector can take pride in the fact that the India growth story continues apace. While Peugeot announced its entry into India, existing players are looking to an upturn in 2012.