Diesel car sales in June 2012 outpace petrol vehicles

Rising petrol prices accompanied by the slow growth of the Indian economy have affected the auto industry adversely. Inventories of several car makers have grown up and, thus, most of them have started offering goodies and freebies to lure buyers.

Tata Motors, the third largest auto maker of the country, witnessed a downfall of 3 per cent in its overall sales in June 2012, which was mainly driven by a fall of 22 per cent in the sales of Indica and Indigo. The sales of Indica reduced by 35 per cent, whereas Indigo’s volumes declined by 46 per cent. On contrast, the sales of Nano surged 3 per cent while that of Sumo, Safari, Aria and Venture saw a rise of 5 percent. However, the sales reports of Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai are expected to be released soon.

Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles (CV) sales surged by 4 per cent and amounted to 41,026 units. The sales figures of Eicher Trucks and Buses saw an increase of 9 per cent, wherein buses played the role of volume puller whose sales stood at 1,114 units. The auto maker also witnessed an increase of 22 per cent in the demand for its Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV).

As the petrol price continued to soar and the gap between petrol-diesel prices widened to Rs. 30, the demand for diesel powered vehicle increased. Owing to this, the diesel car makers outperformed their counterpart, as Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) sold 41,322 units and marked an increase of 16 per cent. The passenger vehicle segment also registered an increase of 23 per cent with sales of 19,792 units.

“We expect demand for utility vehicles industry to continue during the current financial year. Our opinion is to not make any major changes in policies including fuel prices to create an overall positive sentiment”, said Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) Chief Executive (Automotive Division) Pravin Shah.