Car sales see moderate rise in October

Maruti sales up 2%

Maruti Suzuki India on Friday reported 1.91 per cent increase in total sales for October at 1,05,087 units as against 1,03,108 in the same month last year.

The company said its domestic sales increased marginally during the month to 96,062 units as against 96,002 vehicles in October last year.

Sales in mini-car segment, including M800, Alto, A-Star and WagonR, declined by 6.8 per cent to 39,379 units as compared to 42,233 in the year-ago month, MSI said in a statement.

The company said sales in the compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Ritz declined by 1.2 per cent to 22,188 units in October this year as against 22,459 units in the same month in 2012.

MSI said sales of its popular compact sedan Dzire rose by 19.6 per cent during the month under review at 17,211 units as against 14,389 in October 2012.

The company's mid-sized sedan SX4 registered a decline of 62.3 per cent to 262 units as against 695 in the same month last year.

There was no sale of premium sedan Kizashi during the month.

Sales of utility vehicles, including Gypsy, Grand Vitara and Ertiga, stood at 7,236 units in October this year, down 2.2 per cent from 7,400 units in the corresponding month last year.

Sales of vans -- Omni and Eeco -- rose by 11.3 per cent to 9,786 units in October this year as compared to 8,791 units in the same period of previous year.

Exports during the month rose by 27 per cent to 9,025 units as compared to 7,106 units in October last year, MSI said.

. . .

General Motors India sales rise 14%

General Motors India on Friday reported 14.22 per cent rise in sales at 7,715 units in October 2013.

The company had sold 6,754 units in the same month of 2012, GM India said in a statement.

Last month's sales include 2,679 units of Beat, 1,837 units of Sail, 1,965 units of Enjoy, it added.

Commenting on sales performance, GM India Vice-President P Balendran said: "The marginal sales rebound seen last month is on account of the festival season combined with the emerging demand for new entries."

Discounts are at its peak and sales of diesel vehicles are tapering off as the price differential between the two fuels is dropping sharply, he added.

"Going by the market scenario, we expect the challenging times to continue as the general economic conditions have not improved.

“The buoyancy in the market is completely missing and we don’t see any sustained market upturn before a new government assumes office after general elections," Balendran said.

. . .

Ford India sales up 36%

Ford India on Friday reported 36.41 per cent rise in total sales at 14,935 units in October this year.

The company had sold a total of 10,948 units in the same month last year, Ford India said in a statement.

Domestic sales grew by 21 per cent to 9,163 units in October this year as against 7,577 units in the same month last year, it added.

The company exported 5,772 units last month as against 3,371 units in the year-ago period, registering an increase of 71 per cent.

Ford India Executive Director (Marketing, Sales and Service) Vinay Piparsania said: "Led by the Ford EcoSport, our product portfolio has helped our sales momentum continue to grow amidst a challenging economic environment."

. . .

Toyota Kirloskar sales up 11%

Toyota Kirloskar Motor on Friday reported 10.94 per cent increase in total sales at 15,576 units in October this year.

The company had sold 14,040 units in the corresponding month last year, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said in a statement.

Sales in the domestic market stood at 13,162 units in October this year, up 7 per cent from 12,281 units in the corresponding month last year, it added.

During the month, the company exported 2,414 units of Etios, it said.

Commenting on sales, TKM Deputy Managing Director and COO (Marketing and Commercial) Sandeep Singh said: "October has seen good sales as the festive season has helped us in generating good numbers of enquiries and orders."

Sales of all the models including the Innova, Etios, Liva, Fortuner and Corolla Altis have seen a positive growth last month, he added.

. . .

Mahindra tractor sales up 29%

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd on Friday reported 29 per cent increase in its total sales of tractors to 38,263 units in October.

The company had sold a total of 29,565 units in October 2012, M&M said in a filing with the BSE.

Domestic tractor sales were up 30 per cent at 37,352 units during the period as against 28,872 in the same month last year. Exports during the month increased by 5 per cent to 731 units as against 693 units in October last year.

Commenting on the monthly performance, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd Chief Executive (Tractor and Farm Mechanisation) Rajesh Jejurikar said: "The tractor industry continues to do well overall and has seen a healthy growth this fiscal.

"At Mahindra, we are happy to maintain a robust growth momentum with a 30 per cent growth during October."

This is on the back of a good monsoon, improved cash flows as well as greater mechanisation, he added.

. . .

Hyundai sales down 15%

Hyundai Motor India Ltd on Friday reported a 14.58 per cent decline in its total sales in

October at 50,212 units as against 58,784 units in the same month last year.

The company's domestic sales were marginally up at 36,002 units during the month, from 35,778 units in October 2012, HMIL said in a statement.

Exports during the month declined by 38.2 per cent to 14,210 units from 23,006 units in the same month last year, it added.

Commenting on the sales, HMIL Senior Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, Rakesh Srivastava, said: "In this challenging market environment, sales have increased over last month by 17 per cent on account of monsoons, festival buying and strong sales of 11,519 units of new model Grand which received an overwhelming customer response making it to the top five volume sellers within 2 months of its launch."

. . .

Honda Cars sales up 39%

Honda Cars India Ltd on Friday reported 38.7 per cent increase in its domestic sales at 11,214 units for October 2013.

The company had sold 8,085 units in the same month last year, Honda Cars India Ltd said in a statement.

During October, the company sold 31 units of its sedan City and 1,472 units of small car Brio. It also sold 60 units of premium sedan Accord.

Besides, HCIL sold 9,564 units of its latest sedan Amaze last month.

The company sold 87 units of its sports utility vehicle vehicle CR-V in October 2013. In addition to these sales, the company also exported a total of 365 units during October 2013.

Commenting on the numbers, HCIL Senior Vice President (Marketing and Sales) Jnaneswar Sen said: "On the happy occasion of Diwali, we would like to thank our customers for making Amaze as the best selling model for HCIL which has registered its highest monthly sales of 9,564 units during October 2013.

"Adding to the excitement of this festive season and to offer greater convenience to our customers, HCIL is starting 3rd shift for production in our Greater Noida plant from this month to reduce waiting period and aid in quick delivery of cars."