Driven by price hike fears, March sales hit a record high

Domestic passenger car sales hit a record high in March 2012 as consumers advanced their purchase decisions in a bid to beat the price hikes that came into effect following the excise duty hike in the Union Budget in mid-March. As a result, most carmakers saw an increase in their sales numbers for the month.

Maruti Suzuki led the charge, recording a 2 percent sales increase to 112,724 units, the third consecutive month in which it notched sales of over 100,000 units. This number was also the company’s highest ever domestic sales compared to 110,424 units in March 2011. Hyundai Motor India with 39,122 units (up 22.9%), Tata Motors with 36,984 units (up 34%) and Mahindra & Mahindra with 23,020 units (up 33 %) helped boost overall March sales. Volkswagen India with 8,326 units sold, saw a 27.5 percent increase in March sales. Nissan Motor India with 5,880 units (up 180%) and Honda Siel Cars India with 11,016 units (208%) also saw a spike in sales although these were on a smaller base

In the two-wheeler market, Hero MotoCorp, which has been posting handsome numbers for most of 2011-12, chalked up sales of 528,290 units in March 2012, followed by erstwhile partner Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India which sold 220,487 units, emerging as the second largest player in the Indian market. TVS Motor Co, which sold 180,274 units as compared to 186,781 units in March 2011, saw a -3.48 percent decline in sales. India Yamaha Motor sold 29,819 units, a sales growth of 15.6 percent over the 25,786 units sold in March 2011.