Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) today reported a 6% rise in total domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales for the financial year ended March 31 to 236,307 units. This growth comes after two consecutive fiscals of double-digit decline for the automaker.

In 2014-15, the company had sold 223,968 units in the domestic PV market with a dip of 11.94%, which was preceded by a decline of 18.14% in 2013-14, with sales of 254,344 units.

M&M reinvented its product strategy in 2015-16 by launching a total of 9 new products and variants during the fiscal. This renewed strategy paid rich dividends for the company and strong market response for new products like the TUV300 and the KUV100 helped the automaker post positive numbers for the year.

M&M had reported its best ever domestic PV sales in 2012-13, when the company sold 310,707 units with a growth of 26.46%. 

During March 2016, M&M’s passenger vehicles segment (which includes UVs, cars and vans) sold 26,885 units in March 2016 as against 22,183 units during March 2015, a growth of 21%.

Speaking on the auto sales performance, Pravin Shah, president and chief executive (Automotive), M&M, said: “At Mahindra, we are happy to have achieved an overall growth of 17% during March 2016 and 6% for FY2016, despite various challenges. 2015-16 was significant for us considering the number of new product launches, which were well received by the customers, leading to a positive growth both in domestic and overseas markets. Going forward, we hope to see good opportunity with our wide product portfolio. Further, the likely softening of interest rates in the upcoming RBI monetary policy will help the automotive industry to maintain its growth momentum in FY2017.”

M&M also reported strong growth in commercial vehicle sales during the year. CV sales rose to 166,783 units registering a growth of 8% YoY.

During March 2016, the company’s CV sales rose 24% to 17,438 units. Consequently, the total domestic auto sector sales during the month were up 19% to 48,967 units, while the total sales including exports (3,751 units) rose 17% to 52,718 units.