Mumbai: India’s top three carmakers continued to record a decline in sales, evidence of the continuing impact of the slowdown.

Maruti Suzuki, which has just announced plans to set up its Gujarat subsidiary as a 100 percent arm of the Japanese carmaker, said domestic sales fell 6.27 percent in the month to 96,569 units (January 2013: 103,026 units). Sales of mini-segment cars, including the M800, Alto, A-star and WagonR fell 17 percent to 38,565 units as compared to 46,479 units in the year-ago month.

Sales of the compact car segment that includes the Swift, Estilo and Ritz increased by 1.9 percent to 24,473 units in January 2014 as against 24,006 units last year. Sales of the Dzire saloon rose by 12.7 percent to 19,232 units as against 17,060 units in January 2013. The SX4 recorded a decline of 81.1 percent to 191 units as against 1,012 units in the same month last year. There was no sale of the Kizashi during the month. Sales of its UV portfolio including the Gypsy, Grand Vitara and Ertiga stood at 4,763 units in January 2014, down 21.9 percent from 6,095 units in January 2013. Sales of vans like the all-petrol Omni and Eeco rose by 11.6 percent to 9,345 units in January 2014 as compared to 8,374 units in the same period of previous year. There has been a resurgence in sales of the Omni in particular as a result of the company’s push into smaller towns and rural areas.   

Hyundai Motor India sold 33,405 units in January 2014, down 2.6 percent (January 2013: 34,302). The company’s exports tally was also down by 32 percent to about 12,000-and-odd units.

Mahindra & Mahindra’s passenger vehicles segment (which includes UVs and Verito) sold 19,792 units in January 2014, down 25.47 percent (January 2013: 26,555). The four-wheelers commercial segment sold 15,100 units, while the 3-wheelers segment clocked 4,710 units in January 2014. Pravin Shah, chief executive, Automotive Division, M&M, said, “The first month of 2014 did not witness any improvement in the industry performance and the situation remains subdued. The recent repo rate hike will in the coming months escalate interest rates on car loans impacting consumer sentiment.”

Honda Cars India sold 15,209 units, up 188 percent (January 2013: 5,451) as its Amaze and City brought in over 7,000 units a piece. While the Amaze kept up its tempo with 7,384 units, the new City saloon, now available in petrol and diesel, sold 7,184 units.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor sold 10,910 units in January 2014 (January 2013: 13,329). The company exported 1,530 units of the Etios series last month. N Raja, senior VP, sales and marketing, said: “The market continues to be sluggish and the market sentiments remain low. We will be unveiling the all-new Corolla Altis and Etios Cross at the Auto Expo 2014.”

Tata Motors’ total sales of passenger vehicles for January 2014 comprised 10,974 units that included 8,463 units of the Nano/ Indica/ Indigo range and 2,511 units of the Sumo/ Safari/ Aria/ Venture. The company’s sales in January 2013 were 15,209 units, so there has been a decline of 27 percent. 

Ford India sold 6,706 units in the month as compared to 6,062 units in January last year, up 10.6 percent. The company’s exports totalled 3,928 units as against 1,053 units in January 2013.