Auto sector in top gear; Maruti clocked 12% sales growth

Maruti's sales of the compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Ritz, Dzire and Baleno went up by 9.9% to 45,579 units

Car sales growth in India moved to top gear last month, with market leader Maruti clocking over 12 per cent and Hyundai, Mahindra, Toyota, Renault and Nissan posting strong numbers on good monsoon and onset of festive season.

Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said its domestic sales last month rose 12.3 per cent to 119,931 units, from 106,781 units in August 2015.

Its growth was mainly on the back of sales of utility vehicles, including newly-launched compact SUV Vitara Brezza, Ertiga and the S-Cross, which surged over two-fold to 16,806 units in August this year, from 7,836 in the same month last year.

Sales of mini segment cars, including Alto and WagonR, however, declined 5.8 per cent to 35,490 units compared with 37,665 in the year-ago month.

The company said sales of the compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Ritz, Dzire and Baleno went up by 9.9 per cent to 45,579 units in August this year as against 41,461 in the year-ago month.

Rival Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) sold 43,201 units in the domestic market last month as compared with 40,505 in August last year, a growth of 6.7 per cent.

Home-grown utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) reported 15 per cent increase in sales at 36,944 units last month compared with 32,122 in August 2015.

"The improved spread of monsoon as well as new product launches have helped the auto industry perform positively," M&M chief executive (auto division) Pravin Shah said.

"Coupled with this, the uncertainty surrounding diesel vehicles has been lifted by the honourable Supreme Court, giving the customer the choice to buy his preferred vehicle which will help improve sentiment, going forward."

Renault India reported its highest-ever monthly sales of 12,972 units in August, an over eight-fold jump from 1,527 units sold in same month of last year.

Ford India said its domestic sales rose 2.6 per cent to 8,548 units last month as against 8,331 in the same period a year ago.

Nissan Motor India posted a two-fold rise in domestic sales at 5,918 units in August compared with 2,809 a year earlier.

"This is the third straight month that Nissan Motor has sold over 5,000 vehicles in one month. Our robust performance continued in August, thanks to the strong sales of the Datsun redi-GO and its positive reception across India," Nissan India Operations president Guillaume Sicard said.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) domestic sales grew 15 per cent to 12,801 units in August as against 11,161 units in the same month last year.

Volkswagen India sold 4,447 units in August compared with 4,191 last year, a growth of 6.10 per cent.

On the other hand, Honda Cars India reported a 10.94 per cent decline in domestic sales at 13,941 units in August.

In the two-wheeler segment, the country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp reported 28 per cent increase in sales at 6,16,424 units in August. It had sold 4,80,537 in August 2015.

Rival Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) logged 25 per cent increase in sales at 466,342 units last month against 373,136 in August last year.

India Yamaha Motor reported a 22 per cent increase in domestic sales at 74,868 in August. TVS Motor Company said its domestic two-wheeler sales grew 30.1 per cent to 238,984 units from 183,653 in August 2015.

Niche bike maker Royal Enfield saw its sales surge 32 per cent to 54,735 units in August as against 41,600 units in the same month a year before.