India on a roll, auto sales soar

Maruti Suzuki India on Monday reported a 4.40 per cent jump in April sales to 97,155 units.

Sales for the same month last year stood at 93,058 units, Maruti Suzuki India said.      The national capital-based company recorded sales of 87,144 units in the domestic market last month, an 8.88 per cent increase from 80,034 units in April, 2010.

MSI's exports, however, declined by 23.13 per cent in April to 10,011 units from 13,024 units in the year-ago period, the company added.

Sales of the company's once bread-and-butter model M800, went up 11.96 per cent to 2,528 units during the reporting period from 2,258 units in April, 2010, the statement said.

Sales in the A2 segment (comprising Alto, WagonR, Estilo, Swift, A-Star and Ritz) witnessed 1.82 per cent growth to 57,443 units from 56,416 units in the same month a year ago.

A3 segment sales (comprising the SX4 and DZiRE models) increased by 39.07 per cent to 13,899 units from 9,994 units in the corresponding period a year ago, the company said.

MSI's total passenger car sales rose 7.63 per cent to 73,905 units in April from 68,668 units in the same month in 2010, it added.

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Hyundai posts marginal rise

Hyundai Motor India on Monday reported marginal increase in its total sales for April at 52,058 units.

The company had sold 52,020 units in the year-ago period, Hyundai Motor India Ltd said.

In the domestic market, the company's sales increased 11 per cent to 31,636 units from 28,501 units in same month last year, it added.

Exports of the company were down 13.2 per cent to 20,422 units from 23,519 units in the year-ago period, the statement said.

Commenting on the April sales performance, HMIL director -- marketing and sales, Arvind Saxena said: "The rising interest rates have led to reduced enquires and the conversion rate (from enquiry to purchase)too has slowed down. 

"We expect the same trend to continue in the coming months."

In its A2 segment (Santro, i10 and i20), the company sold 46,779 units, while in the A3 segment (Accent and Verna) sales were at 5,227 units.

The A5 segment (Sonata Transform) of HMIL witnessed sales of 20 units, while that of its new SUV Santa Fe was 32 units during the month.

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Bajaj Auto motorcycle sales up 17%

Bajaj Auto on Monday reported a 16.71 per cent jump in its motorcycle sales for April to 3,22,235 units.

The company sold 2,76,095 units in the corresponding month last year, Bajaj Auto Ltd said.

BAL recorded its highest ever exports last month at 1,58,422 units, compared to 1,13,911 units in April, 2010, a growth of 39.08 per cent.

The company also witnessed its best-ever sales figures for three-wheelers last month, at 45,074 units, as against 37,350 units in the same month last year, translating into a jump of 20.68 per cent.

Total vehicle sales of the company stood at 3,67,309 units last month compared to 3,13,472 units in the same period a year ago, a growth of 17.17 per cent, the statement said.

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VE Commercial Vehicles sales up 20%

VE Commercial Vehicles said on Monday it recorded a 20.49 per cent jump in total monthly sales to 3,669 units in April.

The joint venture between Volvo Group and Eicher Motors had sold 3,045 units in the same month of the previous year, VE Commercial Vehicles said.

Domestic sales in April last year increased to 3,353 units from 2,903 units in the same month a year ago, a jump of 15.50 per cent, the company added.

Exports for the month also soared over two-fold to 316 units from 142 units in April, 2010.

Sales of light commercial vehicles in the Indian market went up by 9.69 per cent to 2,242 units during the month from 2,044 units in April 2010.

Heavy commercial vehicle sales recorded a 54.05 per cent jump to 513 units last month from 333 units in the year-ago period last year, it added.

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Skoda sales up 90% at 2,446 units

Skoda Auto India said on Monday it has clocked a 90 per cent jump in April sales to 2,446 units from 1,285 units in the same month last year.

The Czech premium car-maker is emerging as a strong global automobile player in India with sales of 2,446 units, for the month of April, the company said in a statement.

"I am extremely happy with our performance this month as we have almost doubled our sales over last year with 90 per cent growth. We finished the first quarter of 2011

successfully and I am confident that the positive sales momentum will continue," Skoda Auto India board member (sales and marketing) Thomas Kuehl said.

The Czech auto major is working on its dealership network to strengthen its sales force pan-India.

The company opened its 3s facility dealership in Goa in March and is planning to open one more 3s dealership in Meerut in May this year.

Skoda aims to double its sales globally by 2018 to at least 1.5 million units, it said.

Volkswagen sells 7,000 units in April

European car-maker Volkswagen India said on Monday it has sold 7,000 cars in April 2011, including 6,621 units of Polo and Vento.

The all-new Passat that went on sale from April 8 this year, met tremendous response from customers with more than 190 units have already been sold in less than a month, the

highest number clocked in by the model till date, the company said.

"We are extremely happy with the initial response to our recently launched Passat with BlueMotion Technologies and are looking forward for continued success," Volkswagen Group Sales India Board director (passenger cars) Neeraj Garg said.

"The Polo and Vento sales have been consistently good, a lot of which we owe to the increasing brand awareness, especially with our association with the ongoing Indian Premiere League," he said.